What do I Want?
by Ward Point
Summary: We've all asked ourselves this at least once in our lives, "What do I want?" In 1997, Katherine wanted to be a Ballerina. Kim wanted to win the Pan-Globals and more. Tommy, on the other hand, didn't know what the hell he wanted. Eight years later, in 2005, Katherine asks herself that question once again, and this time, the answer isn't so straightforward. T/K
1. Decisions, Decisions

Story Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

**Story A/N:** This my first really major writing project I've set for myself. Kat needs some love. Seriously. I don't read enough about Katherine. She's always mentioned fleetingly when talking about a Tommy/Kim romance. But most of them ignore Katherine, who I believe was a central (But unseen) part of Tommy's development. The timeskip between Turbo and Dino Thunder gives me some room to play around with, and establish a timeline of events which I believe can justify the more cynical, more sarcastic Tommy which is portrayed in Dino Thunder beyond "He grew up." and "Kim broke his heart with a letter." For this reason, we'll start Kat-centric.

In this fic, we're going to go back and forth, between Present (2005) and Past very frequently. On more than one occasion, I have found a few of my drafts to be really messy because of the sheer number of flashbacks I have planned. I'm going to try my very best to organise them so that you're clear on where something happened.

One of the recurring themes that went through my head as I was writing this was "What does Kat want?" An Ex-Ranger has hopes, dreams... She has a life of ups and downs. She has a life of triumphs and failures. At many points in our lives you would have asked yourself that question, "What do I want?" This is a recurring theme I'm going to focus on. At that point in time, what did Kat want?

And so I present to you "What do I want?".

**Chapter A/N:** The first few years of MMPR were a mess, in terms of a 'realistic' age where teenagers can actually fight. If we count it off by year, MMPR season 1 would have occurred when the first five were between fourteen to fifteen. Yet, they're already in high school. In MMPR Season 3, it's entirely possible that Tommy has a driving license at 16... But it's practically impossible for Katherine to drive legally, Australian Drivers drive on the right, while in the US it's on the left. Anyway... Once again, I need to establish the main timeline and a few assumptions that this story is going to go through. The Turbo Rangers graduated High School in 1997, so that implies the graduation ceremony should have been somewhere during Summer break, so Turbo the Movie happens somewhen in May... Moving forward, Turbo 2 should have started somewhere in October/November.

Chapter 1: Decisions… Decisions…

_May 2005_

"You really don't have to give us an answer now. You still have two months, take some time off and have a think about it."

Katherine Hillard nodded, giving her boss a polite, non-committal smile. "I will, have a good night." As her boss left her room, Katherine threw herself onto the bed, landing and luxuriating in the soft, fluffy blankets, letting out a sigh as she did so.

She had finished the last performance of their world tour of Swan Lake just a few hours ago. It was the last performance of her four-year contract, and she had to admit, it felt good. They had started their tour off in London, making a year-long trip around the world, finishing back where they started. To be honest, Katherine hadn't realized that her contract with the company was ending until she had been reminded two weeks ago, when a journalist had asked her what her plans were for the future after her contract ended. It had come as a rude shock to herself that she had been so immersed in her dance that she had not noticed that her four year contract with the company was coming to an end.

Katherine could hardly believe that it had been four years(!) since graduation. Back in 1997, if anyone had told her that she would become a world-renowned ballerina, she would have laughed their faces off. She was hardly that good. That much was obvious, her auditions have proved that. More often than not, she had relied on her substantial Ranger-level strength while dancing, compensating for the lack of technical expertise which resulted from lack of practice due to her Ranger duties.

After starting school in London, Katherine had practiced hard. Dance was her life. She couldn't count the number of days where her legs had given out on her due to sheer exhaustion. Despite having an advantage in terms of strength, she had to work hard to play catch up with other ballerinas who had incredible technique. It was one of the first lessons that Tommy and Adam had imparted to her while teaching her how to fight. All the strength in the world didn't matter if you didn't know how to use what you had.

It was a difficult first semester. London was a loud, vibrant city as opposed to the smaller, quiet town that was Angel Grove. Katherine had felt rather overwhelmed when she first arrived in London. In Angel Grove, a few bus services took you everywhere that you needed to go, but in London, there was the Tube, a huge network of train stations in addition to a multitude of bus services. She had spent a majority of her first week just getting oriented. Not to mention that there were other small things which needed getting used to. Having lived in Australia until sixteen, it had taken a while for her to get used to Imperial units, which Americans used. However, in London, there was a strange mix of two. The weight of produce was displayed in kilograms (In metric units) while distances were shown in miles (Imperial) having to convert back and forth was a mild annoyance.

Most of all, Katherine was lonely and a tad heartbroken. It was a dream come true for her to qualify for the Royal Academy, however, reality had hit her the moment she had sat down at the Juice Bar with her friends.

_October, 1997._

"That's incredible! You get to go to London to study now!" There was genuine happiness in Tommy's voice, which Katherine had been relieved to hear. His tone had been optimistic, and her spirits had lifted. Maybe they could…

"Yeah I know… It is pretty amazing… But there's just one thing…" Katherine wanted to make sure that the topic she desperately wanted to avoid for now never came up. Her downcast eyes met Tanya's, and it took less than a second for the two best friends to exchange an unspoken conversation.

"Kat, you can't give up this opportunity!" Katherine had never wanted to thank anyone as much as Tanya at that moment. She understood. Tanya knew the topic that she was trying to avoid.

"Well, you gave up singing to stay a Ranger, Tanya." Katherine replied. With the direction the conversation was heading, hopefully, Justin wouldn't be able to add anything to the conversation, innocent that he was, he could easily bring up a topic which was best discussed with a certain other Ranger in private.

"That's different; I can go back to it at any time." This wasn't really anything new to anyone sitting at the table. Tanya and Katherine were repeating a conversation they had had since graduation.

It was at that point that Jenny had shot her a smile over Stone's shoulder. Even as Katherine had returned it, she couldn't stop her smile from turning into a bittersweet one. Justin was probably too young to think about it, but she knew very clearly that Adam was trying not to bring up the elephant in the room… Or in this case, he didn't want to bring up the Red Turbo Ranger in the room.

It hadn't been long before Tanya and Adam had volunteered to take drive Justin home.

Finally they were alone at the table. Despite the noise of the juice bar, the silence that surrounded the two was deafening, the tension between them thick enough to cut.

It was Katherine who broke the silence first. "Tommy…"

Tommy stood up, offering his hand and a smile. To her surprise, his smile was genuine. Katherine could only stare at him in mild shock. His first smile had been a polite smile of interest, it had never reached his eyes… But this one… This smile was special. It had taken a while before Tommy had given her that smile, and she cherished it deeply.

"Kat. Let's have dinner."

"Tommy… I…" Katherine was conflicted. This… this was confirmation that the end was coming, wasn't it? Was half a year all she could possibly have with Tommy?

He shook his head, "I know what you're thinking, Kat. But today is your day. It's your life's dream to attend the Royal Academy. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I kept thinking about myself? No, tonight's all about you. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to drive you home, so you can get showered and changed. I'm going to make a reservation at a restaurant, and we're going on a date. Don't think, Kat. Just enjoy yourself."

_Hours later._

Tommy had been nothing but the perfect gentleman, and it was only when Katherine was standing on her doorstep with Tommy standing on the step just below hers did her mind go into overdrive. A tear fell down her eye, "Tommy…" Rationally, Katherine had always know that it was entirely possible that Tommy and her would not be forever, but being aware of that possibility and knowing that in just three months, she wasn't going to be together with someone she was in love with. She could feel the cracks forming in her heart, and she knew that as time passed, it was only going to get worse.

Tommy managed a smile before he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was a passionate one, his tongue slipping past her lips, exploring every inch of her mouth as if it was their last kiss. Tommy broke the kiss without separating completely. "We're not over." He whispered. Looking up into his eyes, Katherine watched his tears fall. Tommy had always been strong, as a leader, he had been strong for his team, he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it was so easy to forget that despite all that he had accomplished, he was only eighteen.

"It's only October, we still have three months before January… Besides… it's only three years." Katherine knew that it was a lie. Odds were that after she graduated, she wasn't coming back to Angel Grove. Still, hearing herself speak the lie comforted them both.

Tommy nodded, his shoulders shuddering. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you." Katherine replied through quiet sobs.

They kissed again, and this time, it was Katherine who deepened the kiss. "Stay with me tonight," she whispered.

Tommy's eyes widened as he broke the kiss. "Uhh… Wha…"

"I… have been waiting for a while." Katherine admitted, embarrassed. They had only been officially dating for four months, but the fact was that Tommy had taken six months to get his own feelings about Kim sorted out to ensure that his feelings for Katherine were genuine. In one of their rare heart-to-heart talks, Tommy had confided in Katherine that he did have very strong feelings for her, but it was the brainwashing fiasco with the Machine Empire that confirmed it. It was Katherine that broke though the haze that was Gasket's brainwashing. In the following months, their flirting had become more pronounced until Tommy finally found the courage to ask her on a date. To be fair, it was partly Katherine's fault as well. She had played hard-to-get. Shy Tommy was cute, and she had enjoyed seeing it while it lasted.

With hearts weighed down by years of combat and more loss on the way, they made love.

_Present_

Katherine shook her head, coming back to reality. It had been years since she had last seen her friends, and yet, her first thought had been Tommy. She sighed again, whether she liked to admit it or not, Tommy had played a huge part in her life. While they were teenagers, though it was embarrassing to admit it, she had basically worshipped the ground he walked on when she first met him. After finding out that he was involved with Kimberly, Katherine swore to stamp out the crush she had… But her hopes were raised six months later, after Kim broke up with him via a letter. It was another five before he asked her out. Besides Tommy, though, there was only one other person she was comfortable sharing intimate details of her life with, and that was Tanya.

Tanya, her teammate for nearly two years, her best friend and confidant… Katherine closed her eyes, her mind made up. Los Angeles it was.

End Notes:

Episode References: Power Rangers Turbo E15: Cars Attacks. Dialogue lines taken straight from episode.

This first chapter is a little short, but I needed to get some of what Kat's been doing out of the way.


	2. Tough Love

Chapter A/N: I admit that I have little to no knowledge of real ballet companies. I like my work to be as realistic as possible… But sometimes, it's difficult for you to find out much about a vocation until you really start working in it. I don't think the Royal Ballet performs internationally, but for all intents and purposes here, please assume it does. Forgive me.

From here on out, my Chapter Notes will be noting down a few technical difficulties I face when I write a chapter. The End Notes will contain a few explanations for the chapter itself, as well as some justifications where I deem necessary.

I know I didn't give you guys much to comment on in the first Chapter. I'd like to thank the people who followed and favourited the Story even though I really didn't leave you with much to like. Hopefully with more actual content, I can give you guys more reasons to favourite/follow this story.

This Chapter is titled: 'Tough Love', and it's self explanatory as you read through it. Enjoy.

Chapter 2: Tough Love.

_Two days later. June, 2005._

"Kat! I've missed you!" Tanya pulled Katherine in close in a full body embrace. "God… I can't believe it's been nearly two years since I last saw you!"

"I've missed you too, Tanya." Katherine smiled into her best friend's shoulder, hugging her tightly. It really had been a long time since she had seen her friends.

"I thought you were still in London. The internet was abuzz with your company returning to London with a huge performance! You really should have called before you came over. We could have gotten the gang together." Tanya gave her a look of reproach. "You really need to try and stop arriving unannounced, Kat."

"I'm sorry, Tanya… It was… well… one of those spur of the moment things." And that, it definitely was. The earliest flight to Los Angeles with a seat on it was just earlier this morning. It was a ten-hour flight which had left Katherine rather tired, but she had still managed to catch a cab to Tanya's place from LAX. In hindsight, Katherine really should have called ahead. Tanya had come a long way from deejaying at the local radio station. Her first album released in 2000 wasn't a real success, but neither could it be a considered a failure, either, and she entered the scene as a minor celebrity. However, Tanya had worked hard on her second album, and in late 2002, she had rocketed to stardom, touring the country. Just a few days ago, Tanya had wrapped up her third world tour, and this time, she had donated all her earnings from her third album and tour to helping the poor children in Africa. Her earnings from her second album had brought in a great deal of income, and to put it bluntly, Tanya was rich.

Everything considered, it was incredibly lucky that Tanya had been at home when Katherine arrived on Tanya's doorstep. The circumstances were so similar to the last two times Katherine had done this, and she knew from the way that Tanya looked at her that Tanya knew something was up.

During her time at university, Katherine had managed to earn enough money from waitressing part time to fly back to Angel Grove every winter and summer vacation to spend time with Tommy, who had been accepted into Caltech. That decision had surprised many of her friends, but not Katherine. She knew that Tommy had to keep moving forward, and he loved the adrenaline rush that came with fighting and racing. However, Tommy was a deeper individual than most people, most of all himself, gave him credit for. Katherine knew that he had applied on a whim, but she had seen it. That necessity to move forward manifested itself as a thirst for knowledge. At some levels, Katherine knew him better than he knew himself.

The long distance relationship had taken its toll on them, but as clichéd as it was; absence had made the heart grow fonder. Letters were sent to each other every other week, and the two often talked with their communicators. Until 2000, where she graduated _summa cum laude._

_5th December, 2000, London_

For the second time in years, Katherine was conflicted. When she was graduating, she could taste it. She was going to return to California, she was finally going to be able to be _together_ with Tommy. She had graduated _summa cum laude _just a week earlier, and she had sent applications to several dance companies in California.

Katherine knew she had a good chance to get a job to wherever she chose to apply. She was good, that much was said by the degree that was awarded to her "With Highest Honours".

Then again, a single letter on her table was confirmation that she was damned good. Good enough to be actively courted for by one of the top ballet companies in London, granted, it was just the _Corps de Ballet_. But this was the Royal Ballet. Things didn't get more serious than this.

This wasn't something Katherine felt she could go to Tommy to. They both were looking forward to this. That was the _plan_! Graduate, go back to California, and start their lives together!

Life did have a tendency to get in the way with the most straightforward of all plans…

This wasn't something Katherine felt she could talk to Tommy to. She didn't want to. It had hurt her enough to watch the happy façade when she gotten her acceptance letter to the Royal Academy. She never regretted that night, or the many nights afterward. Still, Katherine knew firsthand how much her leaving had affected him. Every date, every breathless encounter, was a bittersweet reminder of how soon she was leaving.

Katherine wouldn't put Tommy through that again. She wasn't some girl who was overly reliant on her boyfriend. She was a Power Ranger; she had beaten and destroyed monsters. Katherine shed tears when she realized how close she had come to killing Kimberly when she had stolen her predecessor's Power Coin. Katherine had shed tears over the thought of nearly having to kill Kim and Jason… Then she had shed tears over leaving her boyfriend. She had shed tears after a father figure gave up his life to cleanse the galaxy of evil.

That struck her hard. Despite all that she had gone through, Katherine was still a normal girl, with normal troubles. She had friends. In fact, her friendships had been forged in sweat, tears and blood. She wasn't alone.

A Ranger was never alone.

It took her a while, but Katherine managed to change her flight. The Royal Ballet had given her a month to decide. Her flight had originally been scheduled for the twentieth. But Katherine needed her team, she needed her friends.

Most of all, she needed her best girlfriend.

Tanya.

_7th December 2000 Los Angeles, California._

This was not how Katherine had imagined finding Tanya.

Katherine had expected to park her car, meet Tanya in her apartment and have a quiet talk on the couch. Maybe binge a little on brownies and ice cream.

Katherine certainly did not expect to see Tanya and Adam, both of them walking hurriedly away from a coffeeshop with flashing cameras in tow.

As Katherine drove up to the fleeing couple, her eyes met Tanya's. Tanya's eyes widened in surprise as Katherine gave her a small smile, nodding once. An unspoken plan formed between the two. Katherine extended a finger, pointing ahead. Tanya looked ahead, grinning. The next moment, she had broken out into a run.

Adam was surprised, but joined her. The sudden burst of speed that the two put on had left paparazzi stunned, it gave them two seconds before they started running after them.

Two seconds were just enough for Tanya and Adam to race across the small street right before a car horned wildly as it turned into that very same street, the loud noise momentarily causing the engrossed paparazzi to freeze, very literally like deer in headlights.

Winding down the window, Katherine yelled, playing the outraged citizen. "Do you people want to get yourselves killed or what? Look before you cross a road!"

_An hour later_

"That was a little dangerous back there, don't you think?" Adam asked with a raised eyebrow as he opened the door to Tanya's apartment. He was trying to sound disapproving but Katherine could see the beginnings of a grin tugging at the sides of his mouth.

"Please, Adam, give me some credit. I was a Turbo Ranger." Katherine flashed a smile at him. Adam's façade broke completely as he grinned widely.

"Welcome back, Kat." He said, pulling his old teammate into a hug. Katherine returned it, smiling widely. "Tanya's making a pot of tea, come on in."

"Have I mentioned how much I love you, Kat?" Tanya quipped as she stepped out of the kitchen, the rejuvenating scent of Earl Grey filling the air from a pot she carried.

"Anything for a friend," Katherine smiled, reaching out to take the teacups and saucers that Tanya balanced in her other hand, setting the cups on the coffee table. "I have to admit, though, I really didn't expect paparazzi to come after you." Adam and Tanya had gotten together back in 1998, after… Katherine stopped her train of thought. This was hardly the time to be thinking about _that._

"That's kinda my fault." Adam had the good grace to look embarrassed. "They never found out about me until… just now." He leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It was nice while it lasted, but with the news that I'm going to release a new album in three months has renewed the press' interest in me. My publicist says it's a good thing, it 'builds up hype'." Tanya made quotation marks in the air, rolling her eyes as she did. "It's my business who I date, anyway." She sat down beside Adam, putting a hand on his back. "It's really not your fault sweetie, I didn't expect the press to actually be interested in me. Anyway, my publicist knows about you. She's paid to handle things like these."

"I wouldn't be too worried, Adam. Even if they did some digging on you, what would they find? A quiet, sweet boy who grew up in Stone Canyon… Runs a dojo endorsed by the great T.J Johnson, the Blue Space Ranger himself, with his best friend." Katherine teased. "He even coaches the local soccer team, and I bet all the kids love him."

"Don't forget to mention that he's a loving boyfriend who's also taking night classes for his Business Degree… That's romantic, smart… and of course, handsome and strong." Tanya joined in.

"Alright, enough." Adam was positively glowing as the two ladies heaped compliments on him. "What brought you back so early, Kat? I thought your flight was on the twentieth?" Adam changed the subject. As much as he appreciated the compliments, it wasn't very normal for Katherine to pop up unannounced.

The teasing glint in Katherine's eyes disappeared immediately, and the couple noticed it. Katherine chewed on her lip, wondering how to best approach the subject. She had really wanted a private conversation with Tanya, but she couldn't ask Adam to just leave. That was just plain rude.

"Sweetie-"

"Aw man I just-"

Tanya and Adam spoke at the same time, and then fell silent as they both realized what it was that Katherine wanted. Tanya fell silent, shooting Adam a look that asked him to continue. "There's no more milk in the fridge. I like my tea with milk." Adam smiled sheepishly, standing up, "You need anything else, Tanya?"

"Nah, I'm good, what about you, Kat?" Tanya looked to Kat.

Katherine could only reply with an awkward "No, thanks." Looking up, Katherine gave Adam a grateful and apologetic smile, quickly mouthing an "I'm sorry" to him.

Grabbing his keys, Adam left the apartment.

Tanya cut to the chase. "What's wrong, Kat?" The Yellow Ranger had known that something was bugging her teammate ever since seeing her on the street. Kat was different from her other teammates. Any of her other teammates would have arrived on her doorstep with pizza and Tanya wouldn't have bat an eyelid. Katherine, on the other hand, always called before coming over. It wasn't that they weren't close, but it was simply Kat being Kat, always unfailingly polite and considerate. She knew that Adam had sensed it too, which was why he had left the two women alone.

Katherine took a breath, reaching into her purse and pulling out a letter. She set it down on the coffee table, pushing it towards Tanya, not meeting her eyes. Tanya frowned. The last time Kat had closed up like this was back before Kat had left California. The crest on the upper right hand corner confirmed what she suspected, the letter wasn't sent by Tommy. Tanya reached over, picking up the letter and reading its contents.

Tanya felt as though she was back in 1997 again. The same people, but older, and almost the exact same situation as three years before. Tanya folded the letter silently, slipping it back into its envelope as she pondered upon her words. Tanya picked up her teacup, swilling it gently before taking a sip, letting the silence build.

"Katherine," Kat almost jumped when Tanya spoke. Their eyes met, and Tanya's eyes were understanding, yet hard and unyielding. Tanya asked quietly, "What do you want?"

Tanya Sloan was very different from her predecessors. While Katherine had never met Trini Kwan in person, she had heard from Billy and Tommy that the first Yellow Ranger was a very quiet and understanding person who listened very well. Aisha Campbell was a lot more outgoing, but she was also a really good listener. Both listened to you pour out your heart as you broke down, then slowly built you back up and pointed you in the right direction.

Tanya, was a good listener, but that was where the resemblance ended. Her mind would process all the information and all that she knew about you. And she would return your plea for advice with another question.

That question tended to be the crux of the matter. It stripped away any possible excuses you could give. In one fell swoop, that single question would destroy you and kick you down on the ground until you were having for breath.

If… IF you could answer that question, however, your path was as clear as day.

Tough love, Tanya had called it.

Katherine had never been more inclined to agree.

_8th December, 2000, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California._

"Kat, is that you?" A male voice asked. Katherine turned around, recognised the foreign accent immediately.

"Nic! What a pleasant surprise!" Kat turned around, pulling him into a friendly hug. "How are you?" Nicholas Zhang was an international student from Singapore whose room was situated right beside Tommy's, and also Tommy's best friend in college.

"Third year's a pain." Nicholas shrugged. "I heard that you graduated, congratulations… And why isn't Tommy here?"

"I wanted to surprise him, but when I got here, I realised that I didn't have an access card to get in." Katherine replied sheepishly.

"I'm surprised the seniors or other upperclassmen didn't let you in. Most of them would recognise you on sight." Nicholas said with a frown, flashed his access card to the reader, which beeped once before unlocking the door.

"No one's gone in or out for the past fifteen minutes. Why would they recognise me?" Katherine was curious, although she had a sneaking suspicion she already knew the answer.

"Why not? You know you're like, the most _chio _girl to ever grace Blacker Hose in recent years, right?" Katherine blushed again. She had spent enough time with Nicholas over the years to figure out that his flawless American accent was used when he was serious, and he only reverted back to his creole when he was comfortable with the company. "You do know when I open that door, all eyes are going to be on you?"

Katherine sighed, resigned. She really didn't know what the fuss was about, but, Tommy had told her that he wasn't surprised that the whole house was almost-staring. To put it somewhat crudely, Katherine was hot, but she moved with a grace that was her ballet training, and a confidence that only Tommy knew was the poise of a Ranger. "I am very capable of handling myself, Nicholas, but I do appreciate the warning." Katherine pulled the door open, walking through. She stepped into the common room, with Nicholas right behind her. She could hear Nicholas counting down under his breath.

"Three… two…"

And there was the wolf whistle. It was as if Katherine was a living, walking magnet, and the eyes of all the males were bars of iron suspended from string. All their eyes turned to stare and gawk openly at the gorgeous blonde who had just entered Blacker House.

"Not even three seconds," she heard Nicholas mumble before she started walking with purpose towards Tommy's room with Nicholas at her back, every pair of male eyes staring at her in an uncharacteristically quiet common room.

Thankfully, another upperclassman broke the silence, shouting down the hall from the upper floor. "Yo OLIVER! Your lady's here to see you."

"Thanks Alex." Katherine called to male who had announced her arrival to Tommy, as she headed straight for the stairs, normal activity in the common room starting up again.

Katherine had just barely stepped out of the stairway when she felt two arms sliding underneath her armpits and lifting her into the air. She let out an involuntarily squeal, surprised, but relaxed immediately when she heard Tommy's laughter. Releasing some of her inhibitions, she laughed along with him. Her feet had touched solid ground for barely a moment before she was pressed up against his hard chest, his head dipping down slightly so that their lips could meet.

For a moment, Katherine let herself melt into that kiss, just for a moment, she let her troubles go. As their tongues met, she realized how much she _missed _Tommy. His hands were sliding around her hips, over her back, and down to her backside, gently running over…

"Bro, get a room _la." _The strange accent reminded them that they were on the stairway in the House. "Tommy, seriously. I really doubt you two are into exhibitionism." The sudden, near-effortless switch to a typical American accent jolted her. Nicholas was being too serious for the occasion. The couple pulled apart, breathless. Belated, Katherine realized that Tommy's hand had run up under her dress.

Nicholas, ever the gentleman, was looking aside as Katherine readjusted her dress, blushing hard. For good measure, she closed the front of her coat, tying the knot securely in place. Tommy had the good grace to be embarrassed for her, but shot Nic the look of someone who just got cockblocked. Nic started up the stairs again, smirking as he flashed Tommy the finger. Tommy only rolled his eyes in mild annoyance, long since gotten used to the antics of his friend. Katherine only giggled at their interaction, she was far too happy cuddled up against Tommy.

Katherine couldn't find it in herself to leave Tommy's side as they walked down the hallway to Tommy's room, which was at the end of the hall. Nic's room was right beside it. As Nic unlocked his door, he spoke again. "So, what you guys want for dinner?" He had reverted back to his own native accent.

Tommy looked at him, and even Katherine shot Nic an equally puzzled expression.

"Seriously _la,_ the moment you step through that door, you'll be fucking like rabbits until tomorrow _lor." _Nic had grabbed his wallet and keys and was already locking the door behind him.

Both Tommy and Katherine blushed immediately. Crude as Nicholas had been in expressing himself, neither could find it within themselves to protest.

"Okay _la_, _limpeh_ will be meeting Mandy for dinner tonight, I'll pick up some dinner for you two and then crash at Mandy's place, otherwise I cannot sleep. You two really_ sibeh_ noisy." Nic gave them a small wave as he walked off.

"Erm… That was awfully nice of him." Katherine started, as she entered Tommy's room and took a seat on the bed.

"Nic does take some getting used to." Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's crude and bit of an asshole."

"Well, he did stop you from flashing me to everyone on that stairway." Katherine said, rather thankful that he did interrupt them. "He might a little rough around the edges, but at least he's a gentleman."

"Hey! I haven't seen you in five months!"

Katherine only folded her arms, giving him a look. "It's still not acceptable to flash my underwear to everyone in your House!"

Tommy's voice dropped an octave as he closed the blinds. "How about now?"

_"Dammit!"_ Katherine cursed internally, _"I'm supposed to break-"_

The moment Tommy's lips met hers, her libido surged, wiping away all rational thought.

End Notes:

We're going to be staying in 2000 for a little while longer. The whole memory could be put into one chapter, but it'll be plenty long, and this seemed like a rather natural stopping point to end a chapter.

Tanya is a bit more of a challenge to write. There were never many story arcs involving Tanya and her character was never well explored even through Zeo and Turbo. It was a bit of a leap, but I tried to differentiate her from the first two Yellow "psychologists."

Yes, Caltech. I've decided to make Tommy SMART. Well, by extension, Trini, Billy, Hayley and Justin are probably smarter. I'm not from the USA, so I didn't even know that Caltech was in California until I started to google Universities in California. BBT Reference anyone :)

Singapore is a small island state in Southeast Asia (No, it's not in China). Singlish is actually a creole of theirs. It can be very confusing when a native English speaker first listens to them speak, partly because they do not emphasize any syllables in their words. Every space, comma and syllable takes more or less the same amount of time. It's almost as if it's a completely different language. The Singaporeans that I've been hanging out with have helped me in this chapter. It takes some time getting used to to filter out the words that don't belong in the English language and make the links so that the sentence can actually be understood. The Singaporeans that I've been hanging out with have helped me in this chapter. It also shares many similarities with how Malaysians speak informally.

A few translations.

1) _Chio: _Literally translated as 'Pretty' can be used interchangeably.

2) _la_ and _lor : _A addition, typically at the end of a sentence that doesn't really mean anything beyond an emphasis.

3) _Lim-peh: _Translated literally as "Your father" implies that one is superior to whomever one is addressing.

4) _Si-beh: _Translated literally as "Die father." A curse or swear used almost as interchangeably with "fucking". "Fucking noisy" and "_Sibeh _noisy" mean exactly the same thing.

Tommy can't be friendless in college. Australia's represented by Kat, so I put together an amalgamation of few fellow coursemates. For better or for worse, Nicholas is the result. I hope that his... well, weirdness, will lighten up this story about life.


	3. Internal Conflict

A/N: Small mentions of sex. I refuse to up the rating to M simply because of a mild situation. I freely admit that I have a dirty mind, but I spent more time trying to phrase things so that it would be T – friendly… Hopefully.

I'm really late for this chapter, and I have to apologize. I finished my exams on Wednesday, and spent a day drunk XD. Finally managed to proofread this Chapter for uploading today. Hope you enjoy. I've got a three week vacation, so I'm going to use those three weeks to relax (Read: Refine chapter plans) and maybe catch up on some games. Updates will be slower. We'll see.

Chapter 3: Internal Conflict.

_8th December, 2000: Caltech, Tommy's room._

Katherine decided that lying on her side, her head nestled in the crook of Tommy's shoulder, with her left arm across Tommy's chest and their legs entwined, was the very definition of bliss. Tommy seemed to echo that sentiment, with his left arm holding her shoulder, pulling her upper body even closer to his own. If she was perfectly honest with herself, Katherine was a sore, exhausted but very satisfied woman right now.

Three times they had made love. Well, a more accurate description was that they had _fucked _once, and made love twice. That first fuck had been rough, fast and almost animalistic, releasing the pent up frustration of not seeing each other in five months. With their lust satisfied, the other two times were slower, gentler, and infinitely more satisfying emotionally. Katherine had lost count of the times she had climaxed under Tommy's ministrations, which had reduced her into a boneless puddle. She had paid him back in kind, though, it had been nearly twenty minutes since he had finished, and Katherine hadn't felt any twitching against her thigh.

"I didn't expect you back until the twentieth, Kat." Tommy spoke as he took her left hand in his right, interlocking their fingers. "I've got one last paper tomorrow, and we'll have the whole Christmas to ourselves."

"I wanted to give you a surprise." Katherine shifted so that her upper body was pressed flat against his chest. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his lips. While the sex with Tommy certainly hadn't been planned, she had mentally prepared a few contingencies. Katherine understood herself rather well, and she knew that she wasn't the best of liars. Distracting Tommy was one of the best ways to keep him from detecting something wrong until she could find a suitable moment to divulge her… news.

Katherine had just made things a great deal more complicated for herself. It had been a relatively warm day, at about 60 degrees, and she had deemed it warm enough to wear a dress. That dress had been a mistake, giving Tommy easy access to her sensitive spots. It wasn't to say that she wasn't at fault. She had been a very willing participant in the act… acts that had occurred here today.

Katherine had wanted to break her news to him so that they could try and settle things. Yet, here she was, in Tommy's bed… and all was right with the world.

No, it wasn't. Nothing was right. Katherine berated herself mentally. She was a terrible person. She wasn't some hormonal teenager who couldn't control her libido! She was already twenty-one. She had her priorities! But the poor boy had an exam tomorrow… Her news could wait.

Katherine broke the kiss, looking up at the digital clock that was on his table. "It's quarter to six. We should get dressed."

"Nic's getting us dinner." Tommy said with a smirk. "And I finished revising for tomorrow's paper yesterday… We can spend a few hours more in bed before I need to sleep."

"You're insufferable, you know." Katherine crawled over him with a small smile, reaching for her underwear that was currently hanging on Tommy's chair. As she stood up, she felt Tommy running his hands down her sides, and down her legs, causing an involuntary gasp and a shiver to go up her spine. The touched raised things low in her stomach, and yet again, she cursed her body for reacting so. "No, Tommy." Katherine spoke firmly, stepping out of reach of his sensual hands. Almost immediately, she regretted it. She felt colder without his touch. Ignoring the chill, she reached for her underwear. She could feel his eyes on her as she dressed.

Oh god those eyes. Those eyes conveyed a billion emotions when they bored into hers as they made love. Those same eyes could somehow make her feel naked even though she already had her underwear on. "Could you stop staring?" Katherine asked, looking around the room for her dress.

"Can't. You're gorgeous." came the reply, causing Katherine to flush almost as pink as her dress, which she had located on top of his shelf.

"It isn't even anything fancy." Katherine mumbled as she pulled on the dress, reaching back to zip it up.

"It's a bonus when you wear something fancy…" Tommy's voice was lower, husky. Katherine heard the sheets moving, "Like that set of red lace…" He had stood up, and his glorious, naked body was pressed against her back. His hands snaking around her hips, he started to place kisses down her neck. "You're beautiful as it is."

"Oh God…" Katherine sighed as his lips left a wet trail down her neck. "Tommy…"

Light knocking snapped her out of her reverie. It was most likely to be Nic, with his promise of dropping off dinner. On past occasions Nicholas had commented that he avoided staying in his room whenever Kat was around. The light knocking was a way for Nicholas to figure out if they were still at it. If they answered the door, Nicholas could study in peace for the next three hours or so. If they didn't, he would usually head over to his girlfriend's.

"Ignore it," Tommy's voice was a quiet command, full of sensual promise. Katherine shivered, and for a moment, seriously contemplated listening to her boyfriend.

Her libido had been reawakened, but three rounds of sex had satisfied it somewhat. Katherine wanted so badly to jump back into bed with Tommy, but instead, she reached out for the doorknob and pulled.

Katherine had expected Nicholas to be there, but she didn't expect the petite blonde that was with him. Tommy immediately tensed, only Katherine's body blocking the couple's view of a very naked Tommy.

Nicholas looked up at her with widened eyes. He coughed, clearing his throat, obviously uncomfortable. "You guys really didn't need to stop on my account." He held up a bag. "I'll just leave dinner here; you guys can get back to whatever you were doing."

Katherine noticed that Nicholas was actually holding two plastic bags, "We should have dinner together." Katherine said brightly. She could literally feel Tommy's incredulous eyes burning into the side of her head. "I am rather hungry, Tommy." That part wasn't a lie. After their talk, Tanya had shooed Adam away so that the two of them could have some girl time. It resulted in them sleeping at nearly five in the morning. By the time Katherine woke up, it was nearly noon. She had taken a quick shower, and changed her clothes before she came down to Caltech. Katherine turned her head to face him, mindful of keeping her body still so that she could protect what little remained of Tommy's modesty. The pout on her face wasn't something that any sane man could simply ignore.

Both Nicholas and Mandy were giving her very strange looks. "I haven't eaten since two in the morning… I was at Tanya's." Katherine explained, more for Tommy's sake.

Nicholas look puzzled. "You were here since fourteen hundred. Why didn't you get something light?"

Behind him, his girlfriend, Mandy, pushed his head gently, raising an eyebrow , "Really? You need to ask?"

He rolled his eyes as he came to a realization. "Of course… Really? Four hours? … Why am I even surprised."

Katherine felt her face flush even further. Behind her, she could literally feel the smirk and self-satisfaction radiating from Tommy.

"_Get dressed, _Tommy, I'm starving." Reaching behind her, she gave Tommy's ass a soft pat.

"Ooh, kinky." Tommy whispered. Katherine flushed bright red again. In hindsight, that really wasn't the best of ideas. In front of her, the other girl had her palm against her forehead, shaking her head while Nicholas was looking at her and giving her a "What?" face.

"Really, Tommy? In front of us?" Mandy pushed her way past Nicholas into the room. "We don't need more reminders that the two of you have lots of animalistic sex, you know. I'm pretty sure Nic has many reasons as to why he stays over at my place whenever you come around, Kat." Mandy's hand had reached out to grasp Katherine's, gently tugging her away from Tommy. Katherine was unwilling to move. It was her fault that Tommy was naked in front of his friends, after all. The least that Katherine could do for him was to protect his modesty. Nicholas had already left Mandy's side, trying to stay as far away from Tommy's naked form as possible. Reaching Tommy's bed, he tugged the blanket off the bed, handing it to Tommy with his eyes averted. Understanding came to Katherine, and she stopped resisting.

As Katherine let herself get dragged out of Tommy's room, Mandy spoke in a lower tone, "Boys…" she sounded exasperated.

"Well… He did miss me." Katherine said brightly, behind her, she heard Tommy's voice.

"This never happened."

"I need alcohol. Hopefully I'll forget that I saw your wang-" that was Nicholas.

"Uhhh… Alcohol?" Katherine started, "Is Nic twenty-one?"

Mandy shot her a frown, which cleared up in the next moment "Oh, of course you wouldn't know. The subject doesn't come up often." Mandy smiled fondly, softening the apparent insult. "Nic's twenty three. He was conscripted for two years, so he's two years older than most of us who entered college after high school." Mandy paused, before she stopped and turned to her. "He's been buying the House alcohol for years… And you haven't even said hello to me yet." Mandy turned, pouting and opening her arms.

Katherine rolled her eyes, but smiled fondly, stepping in close to embrace the shorter girl. Mandy Wood, by her own words, was the cute nerd next door. "It's good to see you again, Mandy."

"It's nice to see you too." Mandy's expression changed into a conspiratorial grin. "Were the two of you really at it for four hours?"

"Mandy!" Katherine didn't know whether to be outraged or embarrassed.

"Hey, I just wanted to know how good the reunion sex was. Longest time I've been away from Nic was two months. When we met again the sex was _amazing._" Mandy was grinning even more widely now, her eyebrows raised exaggeratedly.

"… You're teasing me… right?" Katherine asked uncertainly.

"Atta girl, you're catching on." Mandy's exaggerated grin disappeared, being replaced with a smaller, more natural smirk. "I'm still hoping you'll answer that question though… and possibly a few others." Mandy blew a raspberry at her.

Now that Katherine thought about it, this was actually the first time that the two of them were alone with each other. Whenever Mandy came by Blacker House, it was always to see Nicholas. Katherine knew them well enough to know that the couple was trying to leave them alone as often as possible. As such, Katherine was genuinely surprised at how… playful Mandy was, compared to Nicholas. How the heck did these two end up together? She had heard a few stories about Mandy's teasing, but she had never expected this.

"So, how's Caltech for dancers?" Mandy started the conversation again after a few moments of silence.

For a moment, Katherine was puzzled, what in the world was- Then she understood. "I've never really thought about it that way, but that's quite an accurate comparison." Katherine admitted, "I've just graduated, actually."

"Ooohhh… Must be exciting, isn't it? Have you found a job yet? I mean… You can travel the world… see all those different places doing what you love…" Mandy had a bit of a faraway look in her eyes as she paused in front of the water boiler. "Do you want tea?" Mandy offered, pulling out a box of teabags.

"It is pretty cool," Katherine admitted. "I've applied for a few jobs, although I'm not too sure about which one I should accept. And yes to the tea."

"You have companies offering you jobs already? You must be really good at what you do." Mandy set the water to boil, grabbing a few mugs from drawers as she did. Mandy had set three mugs on the counter, one for herself, one for Kat, and one for Nicholas, Katherine presumed.

Katherine shrugged, "I guess…" The letter from the Royal Ballet that was sitting in her purse that was currently in Tommy's room came to mind again.

"Something's troubling you." Mandy declared, her eyes scanning Katherine's face, leaving the mugs by the counter to move up closer to Kat.

"I'm sorry?" Katherine quickly rearranged her face into one of polite interest.

"Do you know how I became friends with Nic and Tommy?" Mandy asked, suddenly changing the topic. Katherine shook her head in response. To be fair, the subject had never really come up. All Tommy had said was that met Nic during Rotation, which was Caltech's version of pledging to a fraternity. Mandy spent so much time working on the reports with Nic that she had acquainted herself with Tommy, eventually befriending him.

"You know that Nic and I are Biochem majors, right?" At Katherine's nod, Mandy continued. "Back in freshman year, there was a research project to be done in pairs, and the Professors knew we would gravitate to people we knew, leaving a number of students left out. So we drew lots, and I got paired with Nic for the rest of the semester."

"At first, I thought I got a good deal. Not to stereotype the Asian kid, but Nic's smart. But after a while… It just got old. We barely talked. I knew he was probably a little socially awkward, but I didn't expect him to be like, a robot. I mean, this is Caltech. Some geeks grow out of the phase, but you're still going to get a few who… well, stall. Nic's one of them."

"When we were working on our fortnightly reports, in his room I might add. He was just so serious that I had already started treating him as though he was really gay. I met Tommy, who lived next door. I mean, seriously. I've already worked with the guy for six weeks, and so far the closest person that I could describe as 'Nic's friend' was Tommy. I didn't even consider myself one of his friends."

"I caught him checking out my group of girlfriends once, so I know it's unlikely he's gay. So, one fine day, I just asked him. His reaction was hilarious.

_1998, 24th February. Nicholas' room._

Nicholas was just taking a mouthful of water from his bottle when Mandy decided to ask the question. "Nicholas, are you and Tommy gay?"

Water erupted from his mouth, coating wall in water and spittle. The unlucky library books that were open in front of him were also caught in the deluge. He covered his mouth, desperately trying to get his coughing under control. He failed. When Nicholas could finally look at Mandy, she watched the water flow from both his mouth and nostrils calmly, handing him a napkin.

Internally, though, she was laughing so hard. It was all she could do to not burst out laughing. The expression on his face had been hilarious. She wished she could have captured that moment on film.

"What. The." Another round of coughing afflicted him. "FUCK?!" Nicholas sputtered. That was the first time that Mandy had ever heard Nicholas curse in a language she understood.

"I mean… he's the only person who you… well, treat like a person." Over the six weeks that she had been acquainted with him, their verbal exchanges had revolved around work. While it was very efficient, Mandy had found that such an impersonal work relationship was starting to be a drag.

"Please _lor. _I am so not gay." Nic muttered. Mandy had gotten used to filtering out the Singlish within a month of working with him. More often than not, Mandy had a sneaking suspicion that what most others considered unintelligible gibberish from under his breath, they were actually curses in another language.

"Then why do you treat me so differently?" Mandy was finally going to get some answers.

He sighed, "Look… I know I'm not the… most socially capable of individuals… But if I tell you, promise me you won't laugh, please?"

Mandy nodded, all too satisfied with herself at finally being able to get a human reaction out of Nicholas.

"I wasn't the most social of people when I was a kid… then I was conscripted, and spent two years in the Navy. Saw some surface action in anti-piracy patrols." His eyes narrowed, "Not something I particularly care to remember… I've… kinda forgotten how to be a kid." Nicholas shook his head, as if shaking himself free of a memory.

"After I ORDed, I met Tommy during Rotation, and from the moment I looked into his eyes, I knew he was like me, someone who had been forced to grow up too quickly. In fact, I think, for him, at least, it was worse. We… just clicked."

"And… ermyouarekindacute."

Mandy's eyes widened in surprise, and then it was followed by a grin. It was going to be fun making him squirm.

_8th December, 2000_.

Katherine couldn't resist laughing. The mental image of the serious young man whose dry humor tended to grate on people's nerves sputtering with water dripping out of his nose was hilarious. "I was trying so hard not to laugh, and I'm really thankful I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have caught that last bit. But Nic was serious. He was using that American accent of his. I still don't really understand what Nic meant by that. We talked for a bit more, and we started dating. He's a lot better now, he's been forcing himself to do stuff he won't usually do. But there are times when he needs his space. Every now and then he just locks himself in his room, probably playing Diablo 2 or something. I became friends with Tommy soon after. You got a good catch, you know." Mandy poured the boiling hot water into the mugs, setting them on the table. "We had a good laugh about the gay joke after I found out that you were involved with Tommy."

Katherine was feeling uncomfortable as it was. Mandy hadn't known how accurate Nicholas' assessment of Tommy had been. Tommy was far older than he seemed to be, but unlike Nicholas at the time, he had tried to bury it deep and live a life as normal as possible. Katherine knew, though, that that maturity, that seriousness, manifested itself in ways that was common to all Rangers who were trying to live a normal life now.

They worked extraordinarily hard at whatever they did. It wasn't unexpected, though. The Power Rangers had saved the world time and time again. Every battle wasn't just a battle for their lives, but it had been a fight for the very planet itself. How could coursework, no matter how advanced it was, even compare to having the weight of the world on their shoulders? When you compared it that way, everything was easy.

"And that's how I know that look. Tommy and Nic both have that same face when they're troubled. I see it more often on Tommy's face, though, usually when Nic and I are bantering. Tommy misses you more than he lets on." Katherine belatedly realized that Mandy had never dropped the subject in the first place, and it showed on her face. That story had been told with the intention of making her drop her guard, which she had. Mandy looked smug. "Cough it up. You know I got you."

Katherine shook her head, her expression serious. Even through the noise in the common room, she could hear Nicholas and Tommy trading insults, they were too close.

Mandy's eyes shifted to the doorway, then back at Kat. Kat watched as a shadow passed over the other blonde's face. Mandy knew that something that involved Tommy was troubling her. But figuring out exactly what needed more information that Katherine just wasn't going to divulge to someone she wasn't that close to. Thankfully, before Mandy could press her more, Nicholas had entered the kitchen, setting the takeout on the table, giving Mandy a brief hug from behind and a whispered "Thanks for the tea." A small smile graced the girl's lips as she reached for the boxes of food.

Tommy, dressed in jeans and a simple t-shirt, took the seat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Katherine let him, snuggling into his shoulder. Silently, she cursed Mandy's name. Why did Mandy have to remind her of her troubles? She had been hoping that dinner and the company could take her mind off things for a bit, but now? At this point in time, her mind was flooded with thoughts. If she took the job, what did it mean?

Did she have to break up with Tommy? Were her dreams mutually exclusive? Or was she placing herself in a false dilemma? Among other couples in long distance relationships, they had an easier time. The communicators that Billy had designed years ago still worked, if it wasn't for the time difference, it was easy to make the call. The only real reason that Katherine sent letters was because they had a personal feel to it, which Tommy agreed.

But it wasn't fair to Tommy. Could she even ask him to wait another two years for her? Granted, they were only twenty-one, but Tommy could have been having the time of his life in college. Without Katherine, Tommy didn't need to stay up late at night just to talk to her over the communicator in the mornings before she went off to school. If she wasn't around, Tommy wouldn't need to run around campus in the middle of the day trying to find scarce privacy so that he could wish her goodnight.

"Kat? The beef noodles are yours. Help yourselves to the other dishes too." Mandy motioned to the three open containers on the table. Katherine wasn't really listening, though. She was lost in her thoughts.

Maybe… Tommy would have been better off without her.

The thought brought tears to her eyes instantly.

With his arm around her, Tommy easily noticed that shudder that passed through Katherine's body, and they didn't stop.

"Kat?" Tommy turned Katherine to face him properly. Katherine looked away, unable to meet his eyes, only to see the concerned faces of Mandy and Nicholas.

How could Tommy look at her with such concern in his eyes when she was such a terrible person? She couldn't even control her own libido, unable to even have a serious, important conversation. What made it worse was that it was in the middle of his exam period, no less. Unable to control her own body, she had slept with him. Not just once, but three times. Here Tommy was, still oblivious to the evil that she was going to inflict on him yet again.

There was Nicholas, who was ever her gentlemanly escort whenever she came to Blacker House without Tommy at her side. More than once, he had been her messenger boy, willingly running upstairs to get Tommy out of his room so that she didn't have to suffer the entirety of Blacker House staring at her. Over the years, she had woken up in Tommy's room, only to open the door and find takeout dinners hanging on the doorknob, and on one particular late-night trip to the toilet, a few buns for breakfast. That had been seriously weird the first few times he did it, but Katherine eventually attributed it to Nicholas being Nicholas. His crude choice of words sometimes grated on her nerves, but his actions were those of a friend who cared.

And his girlfriend, Mandy, the little tease. Mandy wasn't obligated to pull Katherine out of awkward situations, or interrupt her dinner date with Nicholas so that 'another girl' could join them, but she did it anyway.

They were good people. Nice people who were willing to go the extra mile for a friend.

What about her? She had been a Power Ranger, a role model that parents spoke of to inspire their children. She was supposed to be a paragon of all that was good and right.

Yet, here she was, a slut who could barely control her hormones.

Tommy shook her gently, "Kat? What's wrong?"

She was a despicable liar, that was what was wrong.

On the opposite side of the table, Nic's face had turned into a frown. Mandy looked puzzled.

As the tears started to drip down her cheeks, it was all Katherine could do to choke out an "I'm sorry."

Ranger-level strength caught Tommy by surprise, breaking Tommy's hold on her shoulders easily

It took her a second to leave the kitchen.

Two more seconds to reach the exit, which had coincidentally opened just as she was running.

And she was out of Blacker House.

* * *

End Notes: The same way I believe in violence with purpose, I also believe in intimacy with purpose. Hopefully it serves its purpose.

I think I've given a bit of depth to my OCs, although I'm getting the feeling that "author godmode" is starting to affect the story. I will endeavour to keep that from happening.

ORD: Operationally Ready Date. The Singaporean equivalent of a conscript's honorable discharge from service. Often used as a verb because it's too much of a mouthful to say "Honorably discharged"

Some strong words being used near the end, I hope the self-loathing isn't too much.


	4. The Soldier and the Geek

**Chapter A/N:** This chapter is a little short, but sometimes it's just a natural stopping point. This chapter is mainly to show my interpretations of Katherine's character, and a touch of Tommy's.

This will probably be the last chapter for the next three weeks. Vacation time before school starts up again. I'll be taking my time to work on Chapter 5. Thanks for reading, and special thanks to everyone who left a review.

**Chapter 4: The Soldier and the Geek. **

Katherine really hadn't thought things through at all. She had succeeded in getting away from Tommy, but now she was outside on a winter night, without her coat or her keys. This really wasn't one of her better plans. A gust of winter wind blew past, forcing Katherine to hold the hem of her dress down, the chill of winter biting deep into the bone. Katherine shivered, wrapping her arms around herself to conserve her body heat. Katherine cast a longing look back at Blacker House, sniffling as she did. The plan had been to find Tommy to have a long, serious talk… Which would most likely end up with her ending the relationship. Tommy didn't deserve to wait that long. He deserved someone who could be closer to him.

Then Katherine could go spend a few days at Tanya's bawling and crying about why life was so unfair.

But Katherine had never counted on Tommy being so damn _sexy_. Katherine hadn't expected the sexual tension between them to just explode. God, the sex had been _fantastic._ As much as Katherine had loved Tommy at her back, spooning her body as he whispered a soft "I love you" in her ears, her conscience had been banging desperately against a cage that had been buried deep under her lust and her heart.

Katherine turned into a little alcove, where benches surrounded a fountain. The winds couldn't reach this secluded corner. Over the years, Katherine had spent many an afternoon here with Tommy. Tommy would often bring his books out here, and Katherine would be content leaning against him as he studied. Settling down on a bench, she huddled in upon herself, she _missed_ Tommy. Katherine missed him so badly. She missed having dinner with him. She missed the walks in the park in Angel Grove, where they would look at scorch marks and remember the monsters they had destroyed together. She missed the walks and drives around the neighbourhood with him, remembering the number of close calls that they had. She missed making love to him, being able to hold his body within hers as they shared their burdens. She missed waking up beside him in the morning, watching the morning sun filter through the blinds and illuminating his peaceful, sleeping face.

The Earth revolved around the sun, the moon revolved around the earth, the tides rose and fell, and Katherine loved Tommy.

"You really should be careful after dark, Katherine." Katherine almost jumped when she heard Nicholas' disapproving voice, but relaxed. Katherine was no normal human, and she trusted in her instincts to tell her if something was wrong. Besides, even in this state, she was more than a match for any human. She ignored him, wanting to be left alone with her thoughts.

Katherine felt Nic's presence come up behind her, followed by a sudden weight upon her shoulders. The fabric inside was as soft as a blanket, causing Katherine to immediately nuzzle into the collar for warmth. She could feel Nic's hands settling the coat on her shoulder. Katherine reached to either shoulder, pulling it closed around her body

Katherine turned around, finally meeting Nicholas' eyes. His face was stoic and impassive, more focused on trying to make sure that the coat covered as much of her as possible. "It's Mandy's, she thought you might need it." Nicholas said, before Katherine could even open her mouth to ask.

"Thank her for me." Katherine pulled the coat tighter around her, grateful for the warmth.

"Thank her yourself later." Nicholas sat down on the bench beside her, silently staring at the fountain at the center of the courtyard. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a packet of tissues. Silently, he offered the packet to her.

Katherine took it silently, ripping the packet open and pulling out a piece to dab at the trail of tears along her cheeks. There was silence between them. Nicholas seemed to fixate on the fountain, the constant sound of splashing water punctuated by the occasional horn of a car in the distance. It… felt strange. Katherine wasn't uncomfortable with silence per se, but for the majority of her life, she had been surrounded by people who couldn't bear to stand around doing absolutely nothing. Not even quiet Adam could sit around doing absolutely nothing.

"Nicholas?" his only response was to turn his head, raising an eyebrow to her. "Why are you here?" Katherine immediately winced at how it sounded. "Sorry, that came out wrong… Just… I thought Tommy would have come after me."

Nicholas cocked his head, "_Do _you want him to come after you?"

Katherine paused, thinking for a moment. "Not really…"

Nicholas' head turned back towards the fountain. "That's what I thought."

"That doesn't really explain why you're here." Katherine pressed. She had just thought of it, but she could have easily morphed into her Ninjetti form, and then Streaked her way to Tanya's. It was delaying the inevitable of seeing Tommy again to get her purse and keys, but suddenly, even Tanya's didn't sound very appealing. Katherine… Katherine wanted to be alone with her thoughts. That wasn't to say she wanted Nicholas to leave, though. His presence was… oddly comforting. Tommy would have bugged her about what was wrong until she opened up. Tanya would have welcomed her back with open arms, but she would have demanded the story eventually.

Instead, she felt no expectation from the elder male. He seemed content to sit there, staring at the fountain while she organized her thoughts.

"Can I ask you something?" Katherine was genuinely curious as to why Nicholas would brave the cold out to find her. They were only really connected through a mutual friend, and honestly, Tommy and Nicholas being friends was an odd match. They hardly had any coinciding interests. It wasn't the same relationship that Tommy had with Billy, since they had been Rangers together. But beyond that… Besides, she wanted to distract herself from the current situation.

A slight twitch of his head was the only indication he gave that he heard her. Katherine took it as permission to continue, "I know you met Tommy at Rotation… But why are the two of you friends?" Katherine paused, "That came out wrong. I… I don't mean to say that…" she trailed off as Nicholas turned his head fully to face her.

Katherine met his gaze head on. Somehow… it was different, the lines around his eyes deeper, his gaze a tad… colder. There was no sign of the sarcasm or mischief in his eyes. In fact, there was nothing. All she could describe it was that it was… cold.

Katherine shivered, and not because of the weather, but she recognized what she saw there. She had a face like that. Tommy had a face like that. In fact, she was pretty sure that every Ranger had a face like that. It was rarely, if ever, seen, but Katherine knew that that had been the expression on her face when she single handedly gave Numbor a run for his money. Her attacks that day had been… reckless. It had been very different from how she usually fought, and it was only when her team had ran up to her did she remember that she was supposed to be feeling accomplished.

For the first time in three years, she recognized what she saw there. Katherine could see the haunted gaze of someone who had known battle. And she knew that that the same look was mirrored in her eyes. In that moment, Katherine understood Nicholas. He wasn't just quiet because he was a socially awkward geek. In Caltech, a geek among geeks was hardly anything unique. He was quiet because he had seen something that he would forever remember, something that would haunt his nightmares for years to come, and he was still working his way through it.

"Tommy hides it well, and so do you… But I wasn't that great at hiding it back then." Nicholas' eyes softened, a touch of nostalgia entering his voice. "I guess we became friends because we understood that part of our character."

Katherine blinked, lowering her eyes. She didn't feel like she had any right to ask, considering that she would probably never be able to reply him in kind, but she wanted to know. "What happened?"

"Would you tell me yours if I told you mine?" There was a tone of challenge in his voice. Yet, underneath that Katherine also detected uncertainty, a want to tell someone who could understand.

"It's not my secret to tell." Katherine had to be honest. It really wasn't. It was a secret that twelve of them kept. They had been Zordon's chosen. She couldn't betray that. "You should at least tell Mandy."

"You and I both know she won't understand." It was a valid point. As far as she knew, Mandy was the typical girl next door. She grew up with her parents, leading a normal life in which nothing really bad happened to her.

Katherine decided to take a stab in the dark, "Mandy doesn't need to understand to hold you when you wake up screaming."

Nicholas' head jerked as his eyes flashed with anger at the comment, he began to turn his body to face her before rational thought took over. The tension left his muscles as he closed his eyes and let out a breath. He opened them, meeting Katherine's eyes. This time, Katherine saw fear, and a sense of helplessness. "You know how I served in the Singapore Navy years ago?" Katherine nodded, not wanting to interrupt when it was obviously difficult for him to relive the memory.

"I served on a patrol vessel, running anti-piracy patrols along the Straits of Malacca. I was a gunnery sergeant, due for discharge in two months." Nicholas paused, "A distress call came in. Some pirates in a speedboat had boarded a container ship, and we were the closest military vessel. Our ship was sent to show our presence, pressure the pirates into at least halting their operations. We were to shadow the pirates until the edge of Singapore waters, while Command tried to coordinate with the Indonesians."

"The waiting is the hardest. High alert, watching for movement, keeping your head down, full battle order, rounds loaded and ready in the machine gun… It seemed to go well. Our presence forced some urgency into the pirates to leave the ship… Until they got the bright idea to shoot at us."

Katherine listened, already dreading the remainder of the story. If a story involving a military operation was the cause of that grim Look, there was no way this could end reasonably well.

"I stopped my men from returning fire. We were behind a sheet of solid metal that couldn't possibly buckle, especially since we were… about a mile away. Our mission was to shadow them. They might have taken hostages, I said. I radioed my Lieutenant. Told him that we were under fire, asking for a status update on the container's crew. I thought I was being smart." Nicholas snorted, mocking himself.

"One moment I was having a conversation with the LT. The next moment there was red on one side of my goggles and someone screaming. I didn't know what happened. In the inquiry later, some engineers theorized that the bullet somehow ricocheted behind our barrier… It doesn't matter now, I suppose." This pause was long as he bore holes into the fountain with his haunted gaze.

"Rick's arm, gone. Blood… So much blood. The white of bone." Nicholas visibly shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. Katherine's stomach tightened. She could only wonder what images were going through his head right now. Nicholas' words were also becoming more fragmented, his tenses getting confused, completely losing his formal accent the deeper he went into recollection. "Rick screaming. I shout for a medic, yell to my guys for dressing, manage to tie a tourniquet to slow bleeding… Yell at Sherm and Oliver to get him to downstairs to safety… I sight down the MG, yell into radio 'Kilo kill kilo kill'

Katherine took a sharp breath. The sound seemed to snap Nicholas out of his recollection. His eyes refocused themselves, and his speech returned to normal. This time, he continued with cold detachment.

"The pirates' boat was tiny, some kind of speedboat, holding seven people. We emptied the belt, reloaded and continued firing until we were out of ammo. We fired a thousand rounds each. More than half probably missed because we didn't have our spotters. Still… by the time we were done the boat was in pieces… Pirates were all dead."

"Rick lost his arm because of me. Should have given the command to fire as soon as we were fired upon. Would have been completely justified, in defending ourselves. I never expected them to fire. Seriously? A speedboat against a fully equipped military patrol vessel with an autocannon and surface-to-air missles." Nicholas snorted again, leaning back against the bench, running his hand through his hair. "Was almost court martialed for disobeying orders... insubordination…" He let out a weak grin at seeing the look of disbelief on Katherine's face. "The LT threatened to court martial me for disobeying orders to hold fire. I told him to fuck off since he seemed more concerned about his career than one of his men losing an arm. He tried to get me for insubordination, too, but the CO put a stop to that. All of us got early medical discharges."

Katherine shifted closer, putting an arm around his shoulder. She felt him tense as she laid her head against his shoulder. "Killed seven men that day. One of my men lost an arm. Visited Rick after, he was trying to be nice about it, joked about shooting first and asking questions later… Part of him blames me for it. Sometimes… I can still hear the screams, see the blood…"

"You don't talk about this often, do you?" Katherine asked, already knowing the answer.

"Went for the obligatory psychological review, they declared the whole section unfit for duty and gave us all early honourable discharges. Went for therapy once back home. Haven't been there since coming here to study." The tension left him, as if completing the story had lifted a weight off his shoulders.

"You should see a therapist. Or at least, talk it out with Mandy and Tommy. Mandy deserves to know, and Tommy… We know about the guilt." Images of a pale and shivering Kimberly in bed surfaced, Katherine determinedly shut those thoughts away. "Tommy and I both."

There was a bit more of a thoughtful look in Nicholas' eyes this time. "You're not telling me?"

Katherine shook her head. "Not my secret to tell."

Nicholas nodded. There was another long pause. "Earlier, you asked me why I chased after you in the cold." Katherine nodded, her cheek still pressed against his shoulder.

"You're my friend." Nicholas finally replied. He said it quietly and in such a matter-of-fact manner as one would say that the sky was blue. However, it was deeper than that. 'Friend' barely touched the surface. Katherine finally understood why Tommy and Nicholas got along so well. Tommy had figured Nicholas out long before she had, and had seen a soul that needed an understanding only a fellow warrior could provide. In return, Nicholas had helped him adjust to the academic rigor required of a top research university, which was a steep learning curve from high school.

Content with her conclusion, she remained silent. At this point, Katherine really wasn't thinking about anything at all. All she was doing was holding off the inevitable. Katherine stood, pulling away from the shorter male.

Katherine pulled him into a hug, she felt him tense in surprise, then relax as he returned the hug awkwardly. "Thank you, for being my friend." She whispered into his ear, placing a peck on his cheek before she pulled away. Katherine had wanted to have some quiet time to herself to think, but neither did she want to be truly alone. She appreciated that he hadn't judged her or jumped to conclusions, he was just there, waiting.

He snorted lightly, raising his eyebrow with a smirk on his face as he turned away, heading towards the exit.

To anyone other than a few people that could be counted with two hands, that snort and smirk would have been taken as mocking arrogance. But as Katherine fell into step beside her friend, she knew it was his way of saying, "You're my friend. I won't do anything less."

"By the way, where IS Tommy?" Katherine asked, the question suddenly popping into her mind. She was ready to see him, but she realized that she didn't have a clue as to where he was.

"In his room. Mandy's keeping him there."

"Wait what?" Katherine did a double take, "How did you get Tommy back up to his room to be patiently waiting for me?"

"Oh no, you misunderstand. He's hardly patient." The smirk that was crossing Nicholas' face could only be described as mischievous and he was losing his American accent. Both were not good signs.

"Nicholas… tell me what happened after I ran out." Katherine's eyes narrowed, enunciating every word.

"It took him about thirty seconds to recover and get out of his chair after you left. He opened the front door and apparently didn't see you. I think he was frantic." Nicholas turned to her as he slowed his steps, "You had us worried there, you know, leaving like that." A fresh pang of guilt hit Katherine, she had probably Streaked without meaning to, which was why she had been out of Tommy's field of view.

Nicholas' resumed his normal walking speed as he continued. "He walked back in with that focused look on his face. By that time Mandy and I were already waiting. He was ticking off fingers, and I heard him mutter 'Tanya's before he started running up the stairs. As if you could get to Tanya's," Nicholas rolled his eyes, scoffing as his accent changed to reflect his seriousness. "It's dark, and you didn't have your purse with you. You couldn't drive or call a cab." Katherine knew what Tommy had been thinking, though, and he had been accurate. Katherine could have easily used her Ninjetti Powers to Streak from rooftop to rooftop until she reached Tanya's apartment, where she could crash for the night. Not that Nicholas would have known that.

"So I told Mandy to keep him in his room. If I tried to stop him, Tommy wouldn't have had any qualms knocking me out to go after you. If it was Mandy in his way though, Tommy would be more limited in his options. It worked though. He's lying face flat on the floor with Mandy on his back."

"How did you ever manage to pull that off?" Katherine had an incredulous look on her face. How did the two of them floor Tommy? This was TOMMY, former leader of the Power Rangers for three years. He was arguably the best martial artist in the world. How the hell-

"Took a cheap shot. He bent over looking for his keys, I literally punted his ass and he fell over. Mandy sat on him. He can't dislodge her without hurting her, and angry as he is, he won't hurt her… and even if he does manage to move her…" Nicholas smirked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of car keys. "Return these to him for me, will you? I'd be better off avoiding him for the next few days."

Katherine's mouth dropped wide open. "You…stole Tommy's keys, punted him in his ass, he fell over and Mandy sat on him." Katherine summarized, not quite believing the words that were coming out of her mouth. "I don't know whether to feel outraged on his behalf or to fall over laughing."

"Why does that surprise you? Weirder things have happened in the three years I've known Tommy. That week Mandy and I spent at Angel Grove last year? No offence, but your friends are… kinda crazy."

Katherine couldn't disagree. As a former resident of Angel Grove, 'weird' had a very different definition as compared to the rest of the world. As Rangers, it was worse, the 'weird' overflowed into their civilian lives. More than once, Katherine had lain in bed with her covers over her head, muttering "Fuck it all" as 'weird' blew over. Right after Kimberly had given her the Pink Crane powers, observant residents of Angel Grove had noticed that the Pink Ranger was suddenly much taller and had a very different accent. The ensuing manhunt had Billy and Tommy wincing and muttering something about a 'Rangers' Parade' that had occurred a previous year. That didn't last for long, thankfully, since they were turned into children, and the Alien Rangers from Aquitar took over their duties for awhile. By the time they had returned to normal, and gained the Zeo Powers, the manhunt had blown over…

'Thankfully, they were turned into children.' Katherine did a double take at the sentence that ran through her head. God, her life was weird.

"You're different from them, though."

Katherine raised her eyebrow in a question. "Well… Among… Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Tommy, Jason… and the kid? Justin?" at Katherine's nod, Nicholas continued, "Besides you, none of them can stay still. It's always… well, noisy… For me, it was a little overwhelming. Having Mandy around helped a lot."

The more Katherine thought about it, the more she realized how accurate Nicholas was. She had always been the quiet one. She liked meeting new people and interacting with them, but unlike the rest of the team, Katherine was perfectly fine with doing absolutely nothing. She was an introvert, but she channeled it differently from Nicholas. While he would lock himself away from people for a day or so just to read or play video games, Katherine danced.

When Katherine danced, there was nothing but the music and her. It wasn't done on purpose. Even on stage during her exhibition performance, in front of a hundred people, Katherine just danced. It was similar to the combat trance that she instinctively slipped into when fighting. She was aware of everything that was going on around her, the other Rangers, the number of foot soldiers around her, but they weren't really there. There was only Katherine, her body, and the deadly dance of destruction she brought to the foot soldiers around her. That was probably why her passion for ballet had never waned over the years.

"Yeah, they do take a bit of getting used to." Katherine smiled, but it disappeared from her face just ask quickly as they stepped up to the door of Blacker House. Nicholas stepped up, flashing his key card, opening the door to let them both in.

Earlier in the day when Katherine had walked in through the door, the House had fallen silent upon her entry. But this time, there was a brief moment of silence before the noise started up again. Judgmental gazes turned their eyes on her. Gossip and theories about 'Tommy's girlfriend' floated about the common room, assaulting her senses.

"Ignore them," Nicholas said loudly. Holding her arm by the bicep, Nicholas steered her up the stairway towards Tommy's room.

Their steps echoed along the stairway, each resounding tap on the concrete seemed to be a countdown to something ominous. As they entered the hallway, Katherine paused. She swallowed, turning to Nicholas. "Nic… I-"

Nicholas cut her off, turning away from her to look down the hallway. "Do whatever you need to do, Katherine. Whatever it is, I know you'll do what's best for the both of you."

"You'll… You and Mandy… You'll take care of him, won't you?" Katherine bit her lip. She knew the answer, but she had to ask.

Nicholas snorted, as he turned to meet her eyes, his eyebrows raised and his eyes challenging. Katherine's heart settled, that was all the answer she needed.

There was nothing left to be said between them. They walked down the remainder of the hallway in silence. They were just about to pass Nicholas' room when a sudden screech stopped them in their tracks.

"FUCK YOU TOMMY!" Mandy's voice screeched down the hallway.

"I warned you didn't I?" came Tommy's defensive reply.

"I didn't expect you to really FART IN MY FACE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"I've held it for the past fifteen minutes! I couldn't stand it anymore!"

"JESUS! What the fuck have you been eating?! It's DISGUSTING!"

"You know I haven't eaten anything since breakfast! GET OFF ME!"

"Not happening you ASSHOLE. You REALLY think I'm going to let you drive in this state? You'll get us KILLED!"

Katherine could only stare at Nicholas while he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Well… I've never farted in her face. That's got to be a first." Nicholas deadpanned in a whisper, looking mildly amused. "And that's a completely new level of weird for Tommy."

For a sane person, there are some situations in which there are no words to describe the feeling of incredulity and exasperation. Sometimes, the universe leaves you at a complete loss for words, and only actions can suffice in conveying one's emotions.

For Katherine, after the day she's had, this was one of those moments.

Katherine lifted her head to the sky, silently asking, "Oh dear God why me." before she brought her hand to her forehead.

Sometimes, nothing else could convey meaning better than a facepalm.

Nicholas broke into a grin at Katherine's facepalm, but it quickly faded. The atmosphere around the two changed, Katherine's eyes narrowed slightly in focus, her mouth set into a thin line. This was it. Katherine stepped into the open doorway, the light along the hallway at her back cast her shadow into the room. Tommy was lying face flat on the ground, supporting his face with his elbows. Mandy had grabbed his knees, holding his legs together, lying astride Tommy's body, her face still scrunched up at the fart that Tommy had ripped loose just moments earlier.

Tommy noticed the lack of light first, "Nic if that's you I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Mandy looked up, noticing Katherine, and had to visibly bite back a retort that was probably intended for Tommy. Mandy's eyes narrowed as she pouted angrily. "You OWE me."

Katherine stepped into the room, offering Mandy a hand up. "Thank you for taking care of him, Mandy." Mandy took it, her expression softening. Underneath Mandy, Tommy had visibly tensed at the sound of Katherine's voice. Katherine gently guided Mandy to Nicholas, who was leaning against the doorway. Katherine pulled off the borrowed coat, handing it to Mandy. "Would you two give us a moment? I think we have a lot to talk about."

Nicholas nodded once, turning his back. Mandy had just barely enough time to give the couple a look of sympathy before Katherine gently shut the door.

**End Notes:**

Revised as of 20th March 2015: Too many ideas floating around in my head causing inconsistencies in my End Notes and story. Chapter has been updated to reflect this.

I realized that I didn't mention this earlier if anyone's feeling confused. Singaporean citizens are conscripted into two years of service with their Armed Forces. Through talking with my friends, I've found out that the experience of serving has changed them more than they care to admit.

Piracy was especially terrible along the straits of Malacca and Singapore straits during the 90s, even now Australia has its own Navy on anti-piracy patrols under an Anti-Piracy task force.

All credit for the "Rangers' Parade" is to a fanfic titled "Of Love and Bunnies" by Crazygirl47. It's a must-read for any Power Rangers fan. It's not completed, which is a huge shame, but it's provided me with laughs since I first started reading it back in 2008. Check it out s/2213080/1/Of-Love-and-Bunnies

Funny thing that happened to me a couple of days ago. That farting thing? There was this really smelly old man who sat beside me in the cinema the other day when I was catching a movie with my best friend… And another middle-aged man who was just farting REALLY loudly non-stop throughout the whole movie… It completely ruined my mood. So in typical best friend fashion, my bro starts laughing silently at me as I'm facepalming, because nothing else short of exploding could possibly express my displeasure at that point. Therefore, I give you the Facepalm.


	5. Forging On

**A/N:** This chapter was re-written in dedication to Monty Oum, who passed away in the beginning of February this year. He was an inspiration to me for years. Although Power Rangers isn't all that similar to RWBY, the theme of heroes growing up and going through life's challenges remains.

I took a really long break from writing, partly due to being very distracted by games. I've rewritten this chapter a number of times, mostly because I just didn't like how the arguments earlier turned out in previous drafts. I've also went over the past four chapters to refine the timeline, as well as correct a few things which were floating around in my mind, never put on paper, but was reflected in the Author's Notes. Yep, I'm a little absent minded like that. I do encourage you to head back to Chapter 4 to take a look. Fighting a war changes people, and the Rangers have all felt the burn of defeat. But one can only continue forward and deal with it.

In memory of Monty Oum #DoSomethingCreative

Chapter 5: Forging On

When Katherine turned around, she found Tommy on his feet, dusting himself off. He took a step forward, but hesitated, instead taking a seat at the head of the bed, resting his forearms on his knees. Katherine could tell that Tommy was holding back. For as long as Katherine had known Tommy, he had always dived headfirst into things without thought of the consequences. Old Tommy would probably have grabbed her by the shoulders and started asking lots of questions, pressuring her through a difficult time.

After what Katherine guessed was some advice from Mandy, Tommy was staying quiet, fidgeting in the corner. Katherine knew it took a lot of effort, and she appreciated it. Katherine stepped into the room, heading for the comfortable office chair which she turned and wheeled the short distance over, taking her seat. Katherine knew that Tommy's patience was thin and she didn't have a lot of time before he would start asking lots of questions.

"Tommy, I'm sorry for running out on you like that. I didn't mean to worry you." _That was a good start_, Katherine thought to herself. An apology would hopefully soften Tommy. A part of her felt bad for knowing him so well that she could manipulate his emotions so easily, but she didn't do it often, and Katherine hoped that she could avoid a scene here in Blacker House.

Tommy's shoulders sagged visibly, "I…" he breathed a sigh of relief, and Katherine felt another pang of guilt hit her gut. "I thought it was something I did." He looked up at her, the strength returning to his voice.

The look that Tommy gave her was almost painful to watch, and Katherine leaned back, her eyes closed as she felt the tears starting. "Not you, dear Tommy. It could never be you." Katherine was a far cry from the teenager who thought that the great Tommy Oliver, leader of the Power Rangers, could do no wrong, but the utter sincerity within his eyes sent another pang of guilt into her gut. This was yet another reason why she didn't deserve someone like Tommy. While she was off trying to figure out the best way to break the news to him, the poor boy was blaming himself for something he hadn't done.

"Then what IS IT, Kat?" Tommy growled quietly. _Crap_, Katherine cursed internally. In that moment, she swore that she could see a flash of green pass through his eyes. Despite being thickheaded on occasion, Tommy was a rational individual. If it wasn't his fault that she ran off, it had to be something on Katherine's end. "You're hiding something from me, Kat, and I want to know what it is." Tommy's fists were clenched on his knees, "Even Mandy and Nicholas seem to have an idea and yet I'm clueless." Katherine could feel her heart beating faster, Tommy had discipline, he had it in spades, and even now he was letting his anger show in his body language.

And it scared her.

"You returned with Nicholas. You spent the past half hour with him while I'm forced to stay here! What does he know that I don't?" Tommy snarled.

To be honest, absolutely nothing. Katherine hadn't told Nicholas a word of what was troubling her. All he had done was offered companionship and a distraction as she calmed herself down to think things through.

Tommy took her silence as permission to continue, "You run off, he kicks my ass down and then disappears with you! While Mandy sits on me. What the hell?" Tommy shouted, rising from the bed to tower over her.

Tommy was, generally, a nice person, most of the time. But all men had their shortcomings and for Tommy, it was his temper, and to a smaller extent here, a point of pride. Katherine had long known that Tommy, as with most testosterone laden males, and in particular, Red Rangers, didn't talk about their problems much. Some problems would eventually explode… But some wounds festered. For Tommy, some wounds had festered since childhood. Kimberly's letter hadn't helped with his abandonment issues, and adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Nicholas would never have been able to beat Tommy in a fair fight.

Step one, she needed Tommy to calm down. "What would have happened if Nicholas had been here instead of Mandy?" This was one of the oldest tricks in her book, give him a logical problem for his brain to work at so that it would rationalise the argument so that the anger would be carefully shut away once again. The glare that Tommy shot at her over changing the subject was ignored,

"He could never take me in a fair fight." Tommy's response was instantaneous, his pride quick to point it out. "I… I would have thrown him off. Nicholas is fit… But I outweigh him by over forty pounds and I'm the better fighter." Tommy paused as his mind worked. "He'll be on the ground and I'll be out of the door in seconds. With Mandy…"

"You didn't throw her off." Katherine completed his sentence. "You're incapable of hitting a girl. Driving, that angry? I'd be surprised if you get to Tanya's without the police on your tail."

Tommy shot her a thoughtful look, "He knew I would never knowingly hurt Mandy… And Mandy… trusts him enough for him to go after you alone. And Nic went after you… He doesn't comfort people, it isn't his style. So… Why?" Tommy took his seat at the foot of his bed once again, his anger having run its course.

"He was being a friend. I needed the distraction. So he told me the story about why he has **that **look." Tommy's eyes darkened, but there was concern in his eyes.

"Sometimes there's yelling in the middle of the night. I figured he'd tell me when he's ready. Just… He got together with Mandy, and it doesn't happen so often now. Probably once every other month now… Was it bad?" Tommy asked, sympathetic.

Katherine nodded, "It was one incident, but it was... bad." She winced in sympathy. Katherine probably had a larger number of bad experiences in general as a Ranger. However, she couldn't understand taking a human life. Her mind recoiled at the thought. Her power was meant to save and protect lives. She couldn't imagine using her power to take them. "Nicholas knows we've been through some bad experiences, but he doesn't know exactly what. I didn't tell him. He's… got a bit on his plate at the moment." Katherine knew that talking about that incident wasn't easy. It seemed that if Nicholas wasn't careful when he recalled the incident, he'd delve into the memory as if he was reliving it. Admitting it to his girlfriend wasn't going to be easy, but hopefully they'd come out of it stronger. Despite his brutal honesty, cultural differences and crude tendencies, above all, Nicholas was a loyal friend, and Katherine wished him nothing but the best of luck.

"But that wasn't why I came here today. I changed my flight because there's something I wanted to discuss with you. I needed to talk to you." Katherine reached for his hands, taking them in hers. She raised his hands to her face, brushing her lips across his knuckles. "I'm sorry I ran out on you like that, but it… it really isn't easy. I had a talk with Tanya, and even then it's not getting easier."

"You know you can tell me anything, Kat. Good or bad, I'm here." Katherine closed her eyes, unable to keep the tears from falling. Even unwittingly, Tommy was as sweet as ever.

Silently, Katherine reached over to her purse. Navigating around her wallet, Zeonizer and communicator, she reached the envelope, which she drew out, handing it wordlessly to Tommy. He took the letter, eyes widening as he read it.

"This… This is huge, Kat." His face was alight delight. "I mean… this is incredible. This is your big break, isn't it?" As selfless as ever, Tommy was being ever so happy for her, he didn't even pause to think how it would affect him.

"Tommy… I… What does this mean? For… For us?" the tears were coming, and Katherine was desperately trying to hold them back.

Tommy seemed to deflate for a moment… "I… I don't know, Kat. This is your dream, isn't it?"

"But what about _us? _Tommy, I'm going to be away for the next few years if I take this." A sense of déjà vu overcame Katherine. They had had this conversation years ago when she left for London.

"Actually…" Tommy paused for a moment. "Nothing's set in stone yet," Katherine could hear some repressed excitement in his voice. "But there's this really distinguished scientist, Anton Mercer, he's taken an interest in my honors thesis. I was actually doing some research into cloning techniques and wondering if we could create… well… this is going to sound crazy, but essentially, what I'm looking at the theoretic possibility of creating cyborg dinosaurs."

Katherine blinked, "Tommy… How do cyborg dinosaurs sound anything remotely close to a good idea? Is Jurassic Park ringing any bells?"

"Actually that movie was inappropriately named. 'Cretaceous Park' would have been a more accurate, Tyrannosaurus Rex didn't exist till the Cretaceous period," Katherine blinked, surprised at how quickly the words were coming out of his mouth. "Jurassic Park wasn't great science, they crossed the dinosaur DNA with frogs, which, honestly doesn't make much sense, it would have been better to use a closer relative, maybe a crocodile, or maybe even birds. By studying their DNA sequence, we could use technology to 'help' the cells differentiate into different organs-"

Katherine's head was spinning, sure she had done high-school science, but that had been nearly three years ago. "Tommy, sweetie, you lost me at frogs. What's your point?"

"If I get to work with Doctor Mercer… I might stay in school for another three years or so for postgrad studies." Tommy stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright Tommy, but _how does that help us_?" Katherine was getting frustrated.

"You'll be in London or touring, I might end up going to MIT. That's where Doctor Mercer primarily lectures." Tommy pointed out. "It's pretty much exactly the same as we've been doing for the past three years.

Katherine looked to the ceiling in exasperation, inwardly, she was seething. Were all men this _stupid?_ Really? Nothing was going to change? IF she was travelling, all the different timezones would be wreaking havoc with any calls she would try to make. As far as she knew, postgrad workload was vastly greater and more difficult than undergrad…

But Tommy's simplemindedness aside… He did want to continue their relationship… And that was what she wanted. Katherine wanted to be able to follow her dream and continue a relationship with Tommy. They had been in a committed relationship for four years and counting, surely they could go another three years.

But what about herself? Katherine wondered for a moment, would she really want to quit dancing after three years? No, she definitely wouldn't. Ballet was a passion that had led her to this point. But if she wasn't going to stop dancing, did she really want to leave the company in three years?

"Tommy? I've… I've got to be honest with you. I… I don't know if I'll want to quit after three years. I love what I do and-" Tommy closed the distance, bending over to cut her off with a kiss.

"You're overthinking." Tommy said softly, stroking the long locks of blonde hair as he looked into her eyes. "A lot of things can change in three years. We're barely legal to drink, we've got time to figure it out."

The couple embraced. Katherine held onto Tommy tightly, feeling the muscles along his back ripple as he squeezed her body into his.

"Tommy?" Katherine whispered.

"Yes, Kat?"

"I love you."

There was a small snort of gentle laughter. "I love you too."

"Thanks for believing in us… It's just… hard sometimes." Katherine held onto him tighter.

"I know."

"Promise me that you won't give up on us." Katherine pulled back, looking at him seriously.

Tommy's eyes met hers, and he gently took both her hands in his, bringing it between them. "I promise." He kissed her knuckles, smiling gently.

Katherine smiled. She had needed this, the security that only Tommy could provide her. That unshakable faith that Tommy had in both of them. She leaned in to kiss him again. Her lips pressed against his, and her tongue was slipping out to taste him…

And the moment was interrupted by a rumble. Tommy had the good grace to look embarrassed "Sorry, I was hungry."

Katherine shook her head at him, giggling. "C'mon, let's go get a bite."

As the happy couple stepped into the hallway with Tommy's hand around her waist, Nic poked his head out of the open doorway in the next room. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah. We talked. We're good." Tommy replied, pulling Katherine closer to him.

Nic's shoulders relaxed, and he gave them a smile. "There's still food in the pan-"

An audible smack was heard as Nic winced, rubbing his arm. "Hit me for what!?" he shot a glare at the petite girl behind him.

Mandy stepped out of the room. "Don't mind the idiot. You two just go out and have a nice time."

"But… the food you bought." Katherine pointed out, just remembering that Nic had bought them dinner as well.

"Don't worry about it. Just go and have a good time." Mandy shot Nic another glare. "Just don't be too late, Tommy does have an exam tomorrow."

"I know, mom," Tommy muttered, rolling his eyes as he pulling Katherine away from the other couple.

As the door shut behind them, Katherine heard Mandy raising her voice just before they got out of earshot. "They just made up and you ask them to have dinner with us? Are you an idiot or what?"

"You have weird friends." Katherine remarked, half-jokingly.

Tommy could only shrug. "You're telling me. All our _mutual_ friends are kinda weird."

Faces of Rangers and the adventures they shared together ran through Katherine's head, causing her to sober up quickly. Still, she walked with a skip in her step, the memory of Tommy's promise still fresh in her mind.

_Present, June 2005._

"We've all broken a few promises." Katherine commented wistfully. She sighed as she remembered happier times long past.

The mood between the two friends had become awfully somber as they both took in the silence. A few moments passed before Tanya decided to speak again. "So what's up?"

Katherine pulled herself out of the past. "I'm… not too sure, this time." Katherine chuckled softly.

"I'll make the tea." Tanya moved towards the kitchen.

Katherine smiled, it was good to know that some things didn't change.

**Chapter A/N:** I've had a few problems, one of which is getting _stuck_. I hit a block which I completely just couldn't get around. Why do two people stay together, even despite long distance, time differences and other large inconveniences?

At a personal level I've been in a long distance relationship since 2010. Technology makes it easy for us, but what about back in 2000? I assumed that their old communicators were still working, which allows them to keep in touch. But… Why? Blind faith? The innocence of youth? It's a question worth pondering, yes?


	6. Once a Ranger

**Chapter A/N: **I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and the upcoming flashback. It took a while to refit the Timeline and my notes, but it worked out. A lot of stuff came up as I was writing which were never in my notes. I'm throwing this in although I seriously doubt that any of you don't already know about this, but there are spoilers for Forever Red in this chapter.

Thanks to everyone who left a review or followed the story. I appreciate it.

**Chapter 6: Once a Ranger**

Over the years, Tanya had earned a fair bit of money, most of which went to charity, but that didn't mean that she didn't trade up her dingy apartment for something more comfortable. Neither Tanya nor Adam particularly cared for luxuries, but there was little else to describe the mansion which Katherine stepped into. When Katherine pointed this out to her friend, Tanya winced, "Part of it is about publicity, but I wasn't too fond of the old apartment either… And it's more than just a… mansion." Tanya seemed uncomfortable referring to her home as a mansion.

The first thing that Katherine noticed was that despite the grandeur of the exterior, the first floor was… plain. The walls of the first floor were painted an almost blinding white, which blended easily into the cold marble floor. The hallway was lined with valuable looking vases and figures, which Katherine eyed as she followed Tanya. There was a large living area, with a bar in the far corner. The couch that stood at the center of the room was of an oriental design, with intricate carvings of solid wood, with cushions laid on it. It didn't look particularly comfortable to sit in at all. A coffee table sat atop a brown, earthen rug. A large, flat television screen was mounted on the wall opposite the couch. Spaced evenly around the room were figures that Katherine assumed that Tanya's archeologist parents brought back, and on the wall, hung a few paintings. Katherine eyed the room as they passed. Everything was… too neat. It wasn't that she was implying that Tanya lived like a slob, but as someone who knew Tanya as well as she did, this was… impersonal.

"This is actually your first time seeing my place, isn't it?" Tanya asked.

Katherine nodded in reply, "Yeah, I haven't been back in California since…" Katherine faltered for a moment before continuing, "Since that island blew up." Tanya winced slightly, remembering that the last time Katherine had been in the country, things hadn't been going well for her best friend. It wasn't exactly a forbidden topic, but Tanya knew that the incident had hurt Katherine deeply. "Construction was only completed… late last year, wasn't it? I got the invitation, but I really couldn't get time off."

"I was really sorry to hear that you weren't coming. But you got promoted to principal around that time, weren't you?" Tanya received a nod of confirmation. "That was an incredible achievement, Kat. I mean… You got promoted to principal in three years. Most only get there after… Eight years, I think."

"I guess when you've saved the world countless times over, that doesn't sound so impressive," Katherine joked as they made their way up the stairs. As they stepped through the door at the top of the stairs, Katherine visibly relaxed as the colour scheme changed completely. Instead, the walls of the hallway were painted a comforting yellow. The _actual_ living area was painted a light green. This living area was just as large, but it looked more like a living room. Three leather couches were scattered around the area, and a huge screen was mounted on the far wall. Each of the couches had a large coffee table at the center, with what seemed to be 60 inch screens facing each couch.

Katherine plopped herself on the couch closest to the kitchen counter, "This, is what I call a 'living room'." Katherine remarked as she leaned back against the soft leather seats. "Do you entertain a lot of people up here?"

"Yeah. I had a house warming last year. Practically all the Ranger teams up till Wild Force were here." Tanya replied as she set the tea down on the table.

Katherine raised her eyebrows, "You had a Ranger gathering? Really? The house still looks… intact." She had intended it to be a joke, but Tanya had suddenly found something very interesting about the armrest.

Katherine noticed that Tanya wasn't meeting her eyes, "Yeah… the house is pretty sturdy." Tanya replied evasively.

Katherine frowned, "Tanya…" her tone was disapproving. "There's something you're not telling me."

Tanya raised her hands in surrender. She hadn't been subtle, but she knew that this was a can of worms she had to open sooner or later. "I'm not going to lie to you, Kat. The house was designed as a staging platform for Ranger operations. All these screens? Intended for mission briefings. The tables are hologram capable. It's a great place for a party, but this is also a briefing room."

Katherine leaned back against the headrest, her eyes closed. She let out a loud sigh before speaking. "You could have told me, you know." She said quietly. "Just because I wanted to try and have a more… normal life, doesn't mean that you have to keep things like this from me."

Tanya reached over to gently hold one of Katherine's hands. "I know that, Kat… Just… the last time you left-"

Kat's eyes snapped open, pulling away from her friend and fixing her with a pointed look. "I didn't leave because I didn't want to be a Ranger, Tanya, I left because I was lied to."

"Hmm?" Tanya was puzzled. "Wasn't that back on the mission to the moon?"

Katherine frowned, "Didn't Tommy say anything?"

"After you left, Tommy said that the two of you broke up because you wanted different things. When I called you, you told me exactly the same thing…" Tanya trailed off. Back when they had been a couple, Katherine and Tommy had always been affectionate in public, but both seemed to have an unspoken agreement of not airing each other's' dirty laundry, even among close friends. As a friend, she respected their privacy, but it was times like these when Tanya wished Katherine could have talked more about her relationship. "I… had a feeling there was more. Why would you break up with him right after his island exploded? There had to be a good reason. What was it?" Tanya asked, sighing in resignation.

Katherine remained silent, biting her lip. Tommy hadn't really lied to their friends, they had wanted different things, but that was only a part of it. "Tommy… He told me about some of the research he was doing, about creating some kind of cyborg dinosaurs… He told me about Anton's lab in an island somewhere, and at that time, I thought it made sense. If something went wrong, cyborg dinosaurs running wild around an island would limit the potential damage caused… And he did have his Zeonizer anyway… But Tommy didn't tell me about the _Dino Gems_." Katherine paused, the anger the memories awoken rising. "He told Jason, Trini and Zack. He told _Billy_ who was in Aquitar. That girl who was doing her Masters with him in MIT? Hayley? She designed the Dino Morphers with Billy's help. But he didn't tell _me."_

"I… I had to get away." Katherine's anger had dissipated as quickly as it had come. The grudge she held should have been gone now, yet, it had surprised her at how quickly the bitterness returned. Katherine tried to keep her voice level, "Tommy lied to me, twice… It… It hurt." Katherine could feel the tears welling up as a three year old pain welled up within her.

"Tommy was wrong to keep something that huge from you, but when you ran, you left us behind too." Tanya shifted closer to Katherine, her tone softening. "You know, I would have dumped Adam's ass the first time he lied, never mind the second. You're a lot nicer than I am, Kat."

"Maybe just more foolish." Katherine chuckled mirthlessly. "But the past is the past. I… I don't regret where I am, Tanya. Tommy chose his path. I chose mine. In the end… I guess we just wanted different things. Ironic, isn't it? The thing that brought us together was also the very same thing that drove us apart in the end." Katherine sighed, "I don't want to be the first person to be called when there's an emergency that requires Rangers to intervene. But neither am I going to leave it to someone else when there's a problem right in front-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Kat. I feel the same way." Tanya sighed. "When I bought the land after my big break, I just wanted to build a large house so that I could get the Rangers together every now and then. So that different teams could meet each other, exchange stories, let the older, more experienced Rangers pass down some experiences without being all so… formal. You remember the first time we met Lightspeed? At Jason and Trini's wedding back in 2001?" Tanya chuckled at the memories.

Even Katherine had to grin at that. "I remember that. It was my first vacation since I started at the company. Carter saluted Jason and Tommy. Their Pink… Dana, I think? She was practically in shock when I started talking to her."

"Kelsey was more star-struck than hero worship… That made it worse. She stared at me for awhile, then screamed 'TANYA SLOAN IS A YELLOW RANGER OH MY GOD' And this was back before my big break, so I was really surprised to have a… well, 'crazy fan'." Tanya motioned the inverted commas with her fingers. "Anyway… I talked about it with Ashely, who let it slip to Andros that I was building the equivalent of a mansion, and he got the bright idea of building an operations centre into the house. Once we reached that point… Well… It all snowballed from there. Tommy got involved, Billy set up electronic security from Aquitar, Lightspeed and Time Force helped with construction of the more special parts of the house."

"You said Tommy got involved?" Katherine asked, had Tommy been keeping yet something else from her?

"This was after that island exploded. Plans kept getting redrawn the more people were brought into it. Eventually I was just getting really pissed off. The land was mine, and it was sitting there, just… wasting away. The more construction was delayed, the more money I was wasting in rent. Don't get me wrong, I could afford it, but it was thousands of dollars that could have gone to helping Aisha's community in Africa or even the village where I came from. I put my foot down after three months of indecision." Tanya sounded oddly satisfied. "I yelled at Billy and four Reds that day. It's funny how the Reds are the leaders and all, but they just cower when one of us snaps."

Katherine nodded her agreement. Tommy may have been the leader, but their command structure had never been rigid. Many a stupid decision had been avoided when one of them had snapped at him.

Tanya decided that this was a good point to change the subject. "Kat… If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened after that mission to the moon?" Tanya ventured carefully. Katherine had never told her exactly what had happened after the two times that Tommy hadn't mentioned a few choice secrets to her. Tanya hadn't pushed since the couple had worked things out back then, but now, it was obvious that Katherine had been hurting. The breakup with Tommy had been harder on Katherine that she was willing to admit, and Kat's wild changes in emotions were a testament to that.

Katherine shrugged, "Trini seemed fine with it once the rage was out of her system. And… Well, I figured it was Tommy being Tommy. If Andros asked him for help, there was no way that he would have said no."

"How exactly did you find out? I heard some of it from Trini, but I'd really like to hear it from you…" Tanya decided to take a chance to push Katherine into confiding. "I know you're still trying to get over Tommy. The two of you were devoted to each other for nearly half a decade. I've waited for a while, Kat. You've never really told me what happened."

Katherine hesitated, even though the incident had happened almost three years ago, the memory still remained fresh. In retrospect, it was the beginning of the end. She really should have seen that coming. Worst of all, Tanya wasn't wrong. They had spent a good year together before they had started a long-distance relationship in which Tommy had absolutely refused to let the factors that led to Kimberly breaking up with him affect their relationship.

It wasn't easy to forget that kind of devotion that they had to each other. Not even after two years after breaking up.

Katherine sighed, and Tanya knew that she had her victory, remaining silent even though her attention was focused entirely on Katherine's words. "I was back in Angel Grove…"

**October 2002**

It hadn't been easy for Katherine to get time off from work. Despite being one of the most junior within the company, she had moved up through the corps in under a year and was already being assigned minor solos. While Katherine was very grateful for the opportunity, she hadn't been home in nearly a year. It was fortunate that the roles had already been assigned for the Christmas season, so she would still dance with the Corps until after the New Year, where she would then be practicing solos in earnest. She had tried to push her vacation time back so that Tommy's semester would have ended so that they could spend more time together, but there was only so much she could delay her vacation, especially with Christmas fast approaching.

So, Katherine had three days in Angel Grove before Tommy was due back from MIT. It wasn't too bad, although she missed Tommy terribly. Katherine had spent the first day catching up with her parents. It had been nice to see them, although her mother seemed to continue treating her as if she was a teenager instead of the twenty-three year old that she was. Katherine felt a bit guilty that she had only really been home for barely two weeks since she had started working, but her parents had assured her that they were fine and proud of her accomplishments. It had lightened her heart to hear her parents say that they were proud of her.

On her second day in Angel Grove, Katherine had managed the drive up to Stone Canyon to catch up with Adam and Rocky. To her surprise and delight, Aisha had returned from Africa and was in the process of applying for college. Katherine hadn't been able to spend much time with them, however. Both Rocky and Adam had a dojo to run and classes to teach. With semesters possibly starting in January, Aisha was busy applying to college. Unable to help either, Katherine had said goodbye to them after a long lunch. The trio promised to come down to Angel Grove within the month to get together once Tanya, who was busy touring, was back in the California.

When Katherine returned to Angel Grove, it was just past four. It was a little too early to have dinner, and she wasn't feeling really hungry anyway. Katherine hadn't wanted to return home so early, but it seemed that she was out of things to do. Her closest friends were all out of the state. Tanya was probably somewhere in New York City, Zack was in Hollywood as a choreographer, and Jason… Katherine did a double take. Jason and Trini had gotten married last November and were staying in Angel Grove. That fact had completely slipped her mind earlier. If she had remembered, she probably would have visited them first before heading to Stone Canyon for a dinner with the others. Using her cell, Katherine dialed Jason's new home number.

"Trini here."

"Trini! It's Katherine."

"Oh hey Kat! What's up?"

"I'm about five minutes away from your place, actually. I was back in Angel Grove and was thinking of visiting friends. I've already been up to Stone Canyon and was wondering if you and Jason had any dinner plans?"

"Jason's not around, actually. He left me a note in the morning, said he went fishing with Tommy."

"… Excuse me?" Katherine stared at her phone in disbelief. "Tommy's flight isn't due until tomorrow."

There was a very pregnant silence on the phone, Katherine swore she could almost hear Trini frowning. "Let's work it out when you get here."

It took less than five minutes to complete the rest of the journey, and Trini was waiting at the door with her arms folded, a cordless phone held to her ear very annoyed. Trini barely acknowledged Kat as she entered the house. "Their cells are going straight to voicemail." Trini glowered at the phone. "And they aren't answering their communicators."

Katherine remained slightly disconcerted. This was Tommy they were talking about. He was absent minded enough that she wouldn't be too surprised if he actually _missed_ his flight, but lying outright? That… That just wasn't possible.

Then again, Katherine would have said the same thing of Jason. It may have been a few years since their Zeo days, but Jason had been the best second-in-command that they could ask for. Besides, lying to _Trini_? Did Jason have a death wish?

A voice from the television interrupted her, "We interrupt your regular programming to bring you this special report. NASA has observed a huge explosion on the moon. On the screen right now is a photo that NASA has sent us, and as you can see, there's a huge cloud of dust-"

Katherine's mouth dropped open, turning to look at Trini, who had halted the feed to freeze the image on screen. Her eyes were narrowed, a grim look on her face. There was something on the screen that Trini recognized, something that scared her. But on the other hand, Katherine could also see that Trini was _livid_.

"Trini…?" Katherine asked timidly, she could literally feel the anger radiating off the first Yellow Ranger. "Erm… What is it?"

"Between the fire and moon, if you look closely, do you see a faint shadow?" Trini growled.

Katherine squinted, moving closer to the TV screen to get a closer look. All she saw was a huge cloud of grey dust and fire. "Erm… Trini? What am I supposed to be looking for?"

"Nevermind the fact that fires usually burn out really quickly in a vacuum unless there's a _lot _of fuel or oxygen to be consumed… There's only one thing on the moon that required that much fuel." Trini walked up to the screen and pointed. And right there, the bright red fire camouflaging most of the green, was a grey coloured claw. "Serpentera."

Trini looked at Katherine expectantly, waiting for a reaction, however, Katherine only stared blankly. "Erm… Trini? I still have no idea what you're talking about. Is that Serpent-whatsis supposed to mean something to me?"

Trini rolled her eyes, realizing her mistake. "Sorry, I forgot that you weren't around for that. Serpentera was Lord Zedd's personal Zord. Last time I heard about it being seen was when it was sent down to Earth after I left for the Peace Conference. It hasn't been seen since…"

"You think Tommy and Jason are up there? On the moon?" Katherine asked. Surely this was just Trini being paranoid. They weren't Rangers anymore, and if the current team… Wild Force, needed help, surely Wes and Eric from Time Force would have responded. And if they still couldn't handle it, Carter would have sent out a call to all active Rangers to request assistance… Right?

"Where else would they be?" Trini growled. "I'm calling Kelsey."

Katherine had met all of the Rangers up till Lightspeed Rescue. As far as she knew, four of the Time Force Rangers had returned to the year 3000, she had heard about a budding romance between Wes and Jen, and it made her feel a lot better knowing that Tommy and her were only separated by distance, and not time.

Kelsey answered her phone on the fifth ring, and Trini was incredibly careful with her choice of words to ensure that Kelsey would be very forthcoming with information. "Hey Kelsey! I was just wondering if you've got any ETA for my fiance's return?"

"Yeah! Carter sent us a message just now, actually. They're due back at the NASADA base in two hours." Kelsey replied. Katherine was getting more and more tense by the second. Tommy… had lied to her?

"Well, the mission seemed to go well, who else was up there?" Trini asked in her falsely bright tone.

"Well, Andros found the remnants of the Machine Empire who wanted to dig up Serpentera. He called Carter, who had to talk to NASADA about getting a squad of people up there. NASADA only wanted Reds." Kelsey scoffed in annoyance. "Idiots. Between Space, Lightspeed and Time Force, we could have had fourteen people mobilized within an hour, and instead, they spend a day gathering every single Red Ranger they could find."

Trini was barely keeping her voice level, "So… All the Red Rangers?"

Completely ignorant of the fact that Trini very much wanted to kill her fiancé at the moment, Kelsey replied innocently, "I heard that Andros had called every Red, even from Mirinoi and Aquitar… Except Rocky DeSantos. They couldn't contact him for some reason." The betrayal hit Katherine like a brick wall. Tommy _had_ lied. The Machine Empire had been their primary enemy in their Zeo days. All of the Zeo Rangers had bones to pick with any remnants of the Machine Empire, and Tommy hadn't told _any _of them. Rocky definitely didn't know. If Tanya knew, she would have told both Adam and herself.

A gentle touch on her arm. "Kat? Are you okay?" Trini asked, concern in her eyes, belatedly Katherine realized that Trini had hung up.

"Just… _he didn't tell me._" Katherine was still in shock. Tommy had _lied._ There weren't supposed to be any secrets between them, and this was huge. How could he go on the mission without even telling her? What if he hadn't made it? What if the entire squad of Red Rangers-

Trini grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her, snapping her out of her trance. "Katherine. We're going to NASADA. I am going to kill my fiancé. You are going to kill your boyfriend." She directed Katherine out into the garage, grabbing her keys as she went.

Katherine was automatically guided to the passenger side seat as Trini opened the driver's side, about to get in. But Katherine held out her hand, shaking her head. The mental freak-out was over, and Katherine was back in control. "Keys."

Trini frowned, "Kat, this is my car."

"NASADA's a four hour drive away. If you want your chance to whip Jason in front of all the other Reds, I'm your best chance." Katherine argued

"Kat, I've modified this car extensively, I've basically overhauled the whole with blueprints form Billy. It's fast, and I know how to drive it." Trini did not want to give up her car. This was her masterpiece. Trini was a lawyer, but her passion for tinkering with technology had not waned over the years, this was her car.

"Faster than Wind Chaser?" Katherine challenged, ever her Turbo days, Katherine had a sense of how far she could push a vehicle. Katherine wondered if somehow, when she had created Wind Chaser, she had gained a certain understanding of vehicles. Along long roadtrips, she exceeded the speed limits by such a ridiculous amount that cops couldn't catch a glimpse of her number plates, much less catch her.

"It's a quarter past four, Trini, clock's ticking." Katherine knew she had her. Trini may have been impulsive, but she was a rational thinker. True to her prediction, Trini scowled, but tossed the keys over.

When Katherine inserted the keys and turned on the engines, it was as if the entire vehicle was just filled with a silent hum. The tiny vibrations in her seat rustled with silent power. Katherine grinned, this was definitely a _car. _"Alright, Kat, you'll want to accelerate gently just to get a hang-" Katherine barely heard her.

Katherine hit the accelerator, and performed a drift as they zoomed out of the garage. She barely noticed the horn of a car coming up behind her as it screeched to a stop, regarding it as unimportant. Now focused entirely on the road, Katherine whispered to herself, "Time to shift into Turbo." There was a high pitched noise coming from somewhere on her right, but Katherine didn't pay it any attention.

Katherine had a time limit. She intended to meet it.

**Chapter A/N:**

The Chapter title, "Once a Ranger" is named for how I think Rangers who have hung up their uniforms feel. Most don't want to be directly involved, as even Tommy is reluctant to get back into uniform in Dino Thunder, but neither are they going to stand by and do nothing if something needs to be done, as evidenced by every team up production in existence. Of course, there are different extents of this. Katherine and Tanya aren't as... enthusiastic as Tommy.

As I mentioned, this was fun to write. My inner fanboy was going crazy when I read that Katherine was supposed to meet Tommy at NASADA base as his wife. But instead, I'm taking this in a different direction. Katherine's going to be there… But she's not going to be happy.


End file.
